Shadow and Flame
by Tainted Witch
Summary: AU: Naruto has spend most of her life hiding the fact that 'he' is really a 'she'. When her secret is finally revealed, she finds that things are quickly getting a great deal more complicated than she ever dreamed.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...if I did, it would be much kinkier!

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**Author's Note:** Okay, before we get started here, I would like to make one thing _very clear_. The abuse implied in this chapter is _not in any way of a sexual nature_. I quite deliberately left the things that happened vague because, quite frankly, I was not and _will not_ write about the abuse and/or torture of small children. One reviewer has chosen to interpret that lack of explicit detail as the child being raped. That I'm not going to go into my thought on that, but that is not at all what is meant to be implied by anything in this story. This does not mean that I condone the abuse of children. _Child abuse is a serious and reprehensible act in all situations, and I refuse to write anything more specific than what is already there._ For a child in the situation that this one is in, to think that there would be abuse is not a stretch. However, I refuse to write about it, and mentioning that it's happening is used to introduce a non-canon connection between two characters that wouldn't have otherwise been connected in a way that I need them to be further down the plot.

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**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter One**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

"_Monster!"_

"_How can such a terrible creature look like such a cute little girl?"_

"_Murderer!"_

_A small, blond figured cried in the darkness. It was too much…it was all too much. How was she supposed to deal with it all? What had she done to deserve this?_

"_If we can't kill the little bitch, we should at least have a little fun with her…"_

_She didn't understand, couldn't understand. She was too young to know what was happening to her, other than to know that it was wrong…so wrong. Everywhere she looked there was fear, anger, sadistic gazes. She just wanted it all to go away, especially the ones looking for 'fun'…_

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The Hokage stared at Naruto across his desk, his gaze warm but speculative as he waved off Iruka, who had just delivered the village's most notorious prankster to him. "You can go back to your class now, Iruka; I think I can handle our prankster. I'll be sure to return Naruto to class when we're finished." The brunette looked surprised for a moment, but quickly complied with his leader's orders. Sarutobi continued to watch the blond for a moment after the chuunin left, taking a long draw from his pipe and releasing it slowly. "Naruto, Naruto, what am I supposed to do with you?"

The blond gave him a cheeky grin. "Treat me to ramen for pulling such a great trick? I would have got away with it too, if those idiots hadn't looked up at the wrong time."

The old man chuckled softly. "Naruto, we can't have you defacing the village monuments. Tomorrow is the graduation exam! No one will take you seriously as a shinobi if you continue with this foolishness."

Naruto gave him a pained look. "Foolish! It's a masterpiece, old man! I know you can see it!" The blond's grin was contagious.

Sarutobi attempted to look stern, though his mouth twitched suspiciously as he spoke. "Painting all over the Hokage monument isn't a 'masterpiece'. You'll clean it up after class tonight. Iruka will supervise. Have you given any thought to what we discussed last month?"

The blond's demeanor instantly became serious. "I'm not telling 'em, old man. No one needs to know." The tone was firm and decisive, much to the elderly leader's dismay.

The elderly Hokage shook his head. "You're not going to be able to hide it forever, Naruto. You're old enough…certain things are going to start happening."

There was mischief in the blue eyes that met Sarutobi's. "It'll be my biggest prank ever then! Who better to pull off something like this? They don't think of me as anything else…why should I let 'em in on my secret? None of 'em likes me anyways, cuz their parents don't like me…I won't be seen as weak in front of 'em."

The old man frowned at that. "It's not a weakness…we have plenty of strong…"

Naruto cut him off there. "It's not the same though. It's never been the same. The things expected are different…the standards are different! Few are exceptional, and the ones that are have to work twice as hard to get that far…I refuse to be held down to what people think of them!"

Sarutobi sighed. "We'll see. Go back to class now, and we'll talk about this again after the exam."

The blond grinned and stood, waving carelessly and heading right for the door. "Only if you treat me to ramen when I pass, old man!" Laughter could be heard as the prankster headed back to class.

The Hokage sighed, feeling every year of his age at that moment. "Naruto, why can't I make you see? If only you hadn't died, Minato, maybe things would have been different for her." The old man turned resolutely back to the mound of paperwork that awaited his approval. Though he was determined to get Naruto to reveal her true nature, he hadn't become Hokage without learning that there was a proper time and place for everything. The girl couldn't run from what she was forever, no matter how much she managed to look like a boy.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

"_Mommy, that little girl looks sad. Can I go play with her?"_

_The voice that answered the question was sharp and angry. "Don't you dare go near her, Ino. That girl's no good…bad blood. You're not allowed to play with her, you hear me?"_

_There was a pause as the young blond tried not to look over at the other little girl and her mother. She wondered briefly what it would be like to have a mother…_

_A shaky soprano answered, "Yes, Mommy…I hear you. No playing with her…"_

_The younger blond just sighed softly and continued to play in her little corner of the park._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

When school let out the blond could be found at the Hokage monument, with Iruka watching over her as she sullenly scrubbed her work off the sun-warmed stone faces. "You're not going home until you've gotten every bit of it off!"

The prankster glared up at him as she continued scrubbing. "I know that! Not like I have anything to go home to anyways…" She looked quickly back down at her work, muttering as she pushed away the empty feeling that statement brought surging up. She'd been alone for such a long time. The old man helped out as much as he could, but he was the village leader, so he only had so much time for her.

"Naruto…" She heard the softer tone in her teacher's voice, and looked up. He hid it quickly, seeming slightly embarrassed as he announced, "When you have it all clean, we can go get some ramen. My treat!" He seemed determined to look anywhere but her at that moment.

Her eyes lit up as she scrubbed stone with new-found vigor. If there was anything she loved in the world, it was ramen. "Ramen, ramen! You're the best, Iruka-sensei!" The sense of emptiness retreated for the moment…she loved it when the chuunin took her out for ramen. He didn't do it very often, but he never seemed to do it out of pity. She'd never understood why so many of the adults hated her, but Iruka didn't seem to be like them. She didn't trust it completely, of course…but it was nice to imagine, even if it was only for a little while, that he was an older brother. That he was family.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_She had taken too long at the park that afternoon, and she knew it. It was getting dark…never a good time for her. As much as she loved being outside, the darkness was a bad time for her. She didn't know why, but worse things always happened at night. Bad things hid in the dark. So, she rushed home tonight, trying not to show her trembling. She could feel the air around her thicken, the intent to harm her like electricity, tingling across her skin._

_She darted into an alley to take a shortcut, but immediately realized that was a mistake as shadows fell over her from behind. She tried desperately to suppress a whimper as she dashed for the other end of the alley, but she wasn't fast enough, and the space was too confined. A rough hand caught her arm, and a male voice drawled in soft, cruel amusement, "Well, what do we have here?" She was jerked around hard and tossed to the ground. "What are you doing, sneaking around in the dark? Monster…we should teach you a lesson…"_

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The class the next morning was full of anticipation, tense with excitement. The graduation exam day had arrived, and they all wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. Naruto was especially nervous, though she covered it well with her loud jokes. The skill that was to be examined was kept secret until the examinations took place, to ensure that no one got the chance to practice it to the exclusion of any other skill. A ninja was required to be fairly well rounded to pass the graduation exam, so it was fair to think that they should be able to use any skill required equally.

As the bell to signal the start of class rang, Iruka walked in with the assistant teacher Mizuki in tow. The class settled down quickly as Iruka took his place at the front. "Examinations will take place in the next room, by order of name. You will be told immediately if you pass or fail, and may leave and have the remainder of the day to yourself after the exam. The skill that we will be examining today is the bunshin no jutsu."

Naruto groaned as he announced the first name. The bunshin no jutsu was her worst skill! She practiced and practiced, but the skill required to make a clone always seemed to elude her. She put her head down on her desk as the exams started. She had to pass this time. There was no way she was going to be held back because she couldn't make a stupid clone! She knew that Iruka was aware of her problems with that jutsu, and almost certain that he was doing this to her on purpose.

Her turn finally came around, and she was bursting with nervous energy as she walked into the room, watching Iruka take his place at the examination table beside Mizuki. The brunette nodded brusquely and said, "Go ahead, Naruto. Show us your skill." Mizuki seemed to be watching with interest, though it didn't seem unkind.

She took her place before the table, taking a deep breath. There was no way she was going to let this damned jutsu hold her back! She took her stance, forming her hand seal with care and calling up her chakra. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the skill she was trying to perform, and released her chakra with a shout. "Bunshin no jutsu!" The smoke cleared, and she opened her eyes to look to her right expectantly…only to find a single, pathetic looking clone. Suppressing a surge of disappointment, she looked up at the two teachers on the other side of the table. Iruka stared back; his lips pinched thin, and then he roared, "You fail!"

She bit back a cry of protest. Mizuki gave her a sympathetic look. "Come now, Iruka…this is his third exam. He did technically create a clone. Maybe we could let him pass anyways?"

Iruka shook his head, his tone stern. "No, Mizuki. Everyone else managed to produce at least three clones. He only produced one, and it was a useless one at that. We can't make an exception."

She stood there, stiff and nearly trembling in disappointment. She'd tried so hard, but they were keeping her back again because of one _stupid_ skill! She refused to give in to the tears that were threatening to burst out though. Instead, she turned and walked out silently, suddenly needing to get away from the Academy, be anywhere but there. She heard Iruka's voice call after her and sped up to a run, ignoring the regret that was suddenly so obvious in it.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_She curled up in a ball, expecting to be hit. She was almost always hit. They seemed to like punishing her, but they never really explained why. Sometimes there were other things, but most often she was hit. She could feel the intent from her attackers intensify, but a new presence suddenly cut through it, sharp and unfamiliar. There was a rush of air above her, and the sounds of her attackers grunting. A few soft, very squishy sounding thumps and a growl. A deep voice drifted through the alley from somewhere above her. "This child is under the protection of the Sandaime Hokage. While some may choose to forget this, I do not. Leave, or I will take further action."_

_The voice of the man leading her attackers was resentful as he spat, "How can anyone loyal to Konoha protect that little brat? That monster should be…"_

_There was the near-silent hum of a kunai being thrown, cutting the man off as he yelped to get out of the way. The deep voice replied in a deceptively mild tone, "That is treason, you know. Hokage-sama's orders are very clear, as anyone loyal should know." The tone hardened into iciness. "Now, leave. This is your final warning. If I dislike the next words out of your mouth, you will be explaining them to Hokage-sama. Understood?"_

_The man's answer was sullen. "Yes, Anbu-sama, of course. We'll just…be going now."_

_There was some shuffling in the alley, which got fainter and then finally disappeared altogether, as did the killer intent around her. The small blond opened her eyes slowly to find the Anbu still standing over her, watching her from behind his weasel mask. He crouched as she started to push herself up, extending his hand to her slowly when he noted her flinch. She noted his dark hair, pulled back into a tidy ponytail at the nape of his neck, as he asked her softly, "Are you injured, little one?"_

_She thought about that for a moment, and then shook her head solemnly. "No, Weasel-nii-san, I'm okay."_

_She couldn't see the smile, but she sensed it. His tone was once again deceptively mild, but the ebony eyes staring through the mask were warm. "Well, I think I will take you home myself, then."_

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She didn't stop until she'd found a balcony off of an empty apartment, far from the Academy. It faced out towards the Hokage monument, which was an oddly soothing sight in spite of her failure. After a moment of silence, she was suddenly aware that she wasn't alone on the balcony. She ignored him though, until he finally spoke up on his own.

"You can't take it personally, you know. Iruka wasn't trying to make it hard because it's you. He just wants you to be strong, I think." She couldn't really ignore what Mizuki was saying. It was a better alternative to the terrible reasons that had occurred to her for the choice of skill for the exam.

She sat for a moment in stony silence as good as any that the brooding Sasuke might manage, and then shook her head. "Thanks, Mizuki-sensei." There really wasn't anything else she could say.

Mizuki allowed the silence to continue for a moment, and then spoke up again. "Naruto, I know a way that you could pass anyways."

She turned to look at him, startled by the pronouncement, and by the renewed hope that surged with it. "Really? I thought there was no way you could pass after the exam!"

The chuunin grinned at her, though she couldn't quite read the look in his eyes. "There's a certain scroll in the Hokage's office. A huge thing, full of jutsu. If you were to learn one of the jutsu from that scroll, they'd have to pass you. And if you go to the east wall, there's a little clearing on the other side of it with a hut that you can use to practice in private."

Her eyes lit up excitedly. "Are you serious? That's great! I'm gonna go right away. Thanks, Mizuki-sensei!" The blond bounded off, her plans for getting into the office already firmly in mind. She wasn't Konoha's greatest prankster for nothing!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...much to my sorrow. Kishimoto-sensei is far more original than I am!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Two**

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_For the next few months the weasel-masked Anbu often showed up when she was in particularly bad trouble. Of course, she didn't count on him…despite his kindness, she knew he had his own job to do, and his own life besides that. He made life easier for her when he could, though…occasionally she would come back to her tiny apartment to find fresh food, or a new toy that she was sure was from him. She was sure it wouldn't last though. Nothing good in her life ever did._

_Sure enough, a week before her 4__th__ birthday she came home to her little place to find a now-familiar Anbu waiting for her, sitting on the battered orange couch that she had begged the old man so hard for. She giggled softly as he handed her a very plain looking, dark brown teddy bear. "Thank you, Weasel-nii-san!"_

_She could once again sense that smile as he pulled her up onto the couch with him. As was his nature, he got right to the point. "You won't be seeing me anymore, little one." He didn't pull any punches, but she knew he realized she was mature for her age._

_Her eyes widened as she sucked in a deep breath, and then asked in a trembling voice, "Why? Is it cuz I'm bad, Weasel-nii-san?"_

_Dark eyes widened slightly behind the mask as the little blond's face crumpled, on the verge of tears. "No, no. You're not bad, little one!" Warm arms wrapped around her as the man hastened awkwardly to reassure her._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It was hours later when Iruka finally found her in the clearing. She was dirty and incredibly tired, but triumphant. She'd learned the damned jutsu…she still couldn't do the regular bunshin, but since she could do this one they had to let her pass! Of course, it had taken longer than she had expected to master it. She looked up at him from her seat on the ground as he suddenly growled, "Hey, Naruto!"

She gave him a grin and a nervous laugh. "Iruka-sensei! You've found me! I've only learned one skill so far…" She scratched the back of her head sheepishly as she waited for his reaction. He looked at her, shocked, and she decided to plunge on ahead with her explanation. "Hey! You wanna see this incredible skill I learned?" She was practically bouncing, she was so excited. "If I do it, you'll let me graduate, right? If I show you a jutsu from this scroll, you have to let me pass, right?"

Iruka's eyes widened, and he demanded, "Who told you that?"

She grinned widely at him, thinking she had finally impressed him. "Mizuki-sensei told me! About the scroll and this place…" She trailed off at the look of horror and brief flash of anger in Iruka's eyes. She thought for a moment that it was directed at her as he reached out to push her…but was startled to hear the soft whistle of kunai in the air. She could hear the hard thuds of kunai hitting wood and the softer, almost squishy sounding thuds of kunai driving into flesh and bone.

She hit the ground with a gasp, and her head snapped up as she heard Mizuki's familiar voice. "Impressive that you found him, Iruka."

Iruka comment in a pained tone, "I see…so, that's what's going on…"

Mizuki was crouched high in a tree, overlooking the clearing. "Naruto, give me the scroll."

She looked up at him with wide eyes, confused by the sudden turn of events. "Hey…what's going on here?" Suddenly, it didn't seem like she could trust either of them.

Iruka pulled a kunai from his leg with a soft grunt, never taking his eyes off Mizuki as he said urgently, "Naruto! Don't give Mizuki that scroll, even if you die! That is a dangerous scroll, with forbidden ninjustu sealed in it! Mizuki used you to get his hands on it!" It made sense…a little too much sense for her taste.

She could hear the malice in Mizuki's voice as he countered that accusation, and almost see the sense of smug superiority in his eyes. "Naruto, Iruka is afraid of you having that." That made sense too, though she hated to think of Iruka that way. But in this situation, she had to…right?

"Mizuki, what are you talking about? Don't be fooled by him, Naruto!" The urgency, the seeming sincerity…but she'd seen too much in her short life to take those things at face value. Tone, even body language, could be made to lie…something she did on a daily basis, and was all too familiar with.

Mizuki smirked. "I'll tell you the truth, Naruto."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_It was some time before the weasel-masked Anbu was able to stem the flood of tears from the blond, repeating over and over that she wasn't a bad girl, and that he wasn't leaving because of her. When she finally calmed, he explained gently, "I must complete a special mission, little one. That is why I won't be able to see you anymore. It is not because of you, I promise!"_

_The little girl sniffled, looking up at his mask with watery, blue eyes. "Will it be a long mission, Weasel-nii-san? Is that why?" She hugged the bear like it was the only thing she had left in the world._

_The dark-eyed man nodded. "Yes. It will be a very long mission, and it would be very dangerous for you if I came to see you."_

_She gave him a very serious frown and tugged at his vest. "How long will it be? Can I see you when you're done?"_

_He chuckled, almost sadly. "It will be years, little one. Many years, if I come home at all." He lifted her chin in gentle fingers. "Being a shinobi is very dangerous. I may not live to come home…"_

_A small fist punched him in the chest while little cheeks puffed out in anger. "You'll come back! You're Weasel-nii-san, you gotta come back!" Teary blue eyes narrowed as she demanded, "I can see you when you come back, right?"_

_The Anbu smiled at the childish reasoning, watching her glare at him before he finally nodded. "Yes, you can see me then. But not before, understand?"_

_The little blond's anger deflated abruptly as she nodded. She asked in a small voice, "Do you hafta go now?"_

_He shook his head and pulled her close. "No, not yet. I have all night for you this time, little one…"_

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She wasn't sure exactly where she was running to, but she wasn't thinking enough to care either. She continued at full speed for several minutes before finally dropping down behind a tree…she didn't have much energy left, and she was sure that she'd left the pair behind.

Seconds after she dropped to the ground she heard thuds, and then voices, from the other side of the tree. Iruka's voice came first. "It can't be…how, Naruto? How did you know…I wasn't Iruka?" By the end of that, the voice was Mizuki's

She was shocked for a moment to hear laughter in her own voice - did she really sound like that? - and then the reply came in Iruka's voice. "I'm Iruka." The prankster in her appreciated the trick, despite the situation. She almost held her breath as she strained to catch every bit of the conversation between the two. She wouldn't want to give herself away, after all.

Mizuki sounded amused as he answered. "I see…you'd even transform into the thing that killed your parents, to protect him?"

Naruto wished she dared lean out to see more as she listened to Iruka's answer. "I won't hand the scroll over to an idiot like you!" She wasn't sure what to think of that. Was he more worried about her, or the scroll?

Mizuki sounded smug. "You're an idiot. Naruto and I are the same." Was she really? She couldn't be sure now…she pulled her attention back to the present as he continued. "If you use the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want. There's no way that the Kyuubi no Kitsune won't try to use that power!"

"Yeah…" She was shocked at Iruka's answer, and her world was starting to crumble around her. Iruka had always been so kind to her! Was it all an act from the start? She was so upset that she almost missed it as he continued on. "If he was the Demon Fox. But he's different. I've acknowledged him as one of my excellent students!" Her heart leapt. It wasn't an act after all…and he really did acknowledge her! "He's hard working, and dedicated. But because he's clumsy no one acknowledges him. He already knows what it is to feel pain, true pain. He isn't the Kyuubi no Kitsune…he's Uzumaki Naruto, a shinobi of Konoha!"

Mizuki snorted derisively. "Okay, you're hopeless." Naruto could hear the soft clink of a weapon being taken out. "Iruka! I said I would take care of you later, but I've changed my mind! Time to die!"

Naruto sprung from her hiding spot, the world slowing to a crawl as she obeyed the sudden urge to save the person who had finally acknowledged her. She intercepted the traitorous chuunin with a foot to the face, knocking his weapon from its intended target to spin uselessly off into the woods. As Mizuki went flying, landing and skidding back several feet, she landed in a crouch that was far more graceful than the usual sprawl she managed, in a feral seeming sort of way. She placed one end of the huge scroll on the ground, and balanced it there with one hand as she stood, growling out, "Don't touch Iruka-sensei! I'll kill you!" The surge of anger was both frightening and intoxicating.

Mizuki stood, all trace of his previous smug amusement gone as he yelled angrily, "Shut up! I can kill a punk like you in one shot!"

Her anger surged, and she brought her hands up to form the seal for her newly learned jutsu. "Try it, trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!" As Mizuki rushed her, snarling almost incoherently, she channeled her chakra and shouted, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" When the smoke of the jutsu cleared, the stunned Mizuki was surrounded by dozens of clones of Naruto, all just as angry looking as the original. The suddenly frightened chuunin was promptly beat within an inch of his life as the original headed over to Iruka.

When Mizuki had fallen unconscious, she released the jutsu and crouched in front of her brunette teacher. "Iruka-sensei, are you okay?"

The chuunin was obviously in pain, but smiling as he nodded at her. "Yeah. Get a bit closer, there's something I want to give you. Close your eyes." She scooted closer, closing her eyes as she was told, only to feel him doing something with her head. He pulled her goggles off, and then replaced it with something. She could hear the warmth in his voice as he suddenly said, "Okay, open them now."

She opened her eyes cautiously, not sure what to expect…and was startled to find herself staring at Iruka…minus his forehead protector. He held up her goggles, and then said gently, "Congratulations…on graduating." She stared at him, stunned. After all that had happened that night, the thought of graduating had completely slipped her mind! Iruka grinned at her. "All right! Let's go celebrate! I'll buy you a bowl of ramen!" The emotional ups and downs of the night threatened to spill over as she watched him, caught on the knife's edge between laughter and tears.

She managed to master her control of the impending tears and threw herself at her surrogate brother, overwhelmed by the sudden happiness. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei!"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_The little blond was warm as the Anbu carried her to her bed. She snuggled close to his chest as he walked, sleepy but content. She watched him with eyes barely open as he laid her down and covered her with her shabby, but warm, blankets. "Weasel-nii-san, do you have a family?" It was a valid question. After the Ninja Wars and the invasion of the Kyuubi, many ninja didn't anymore._

_He was quiet for a moment, before replying wryly, "Of course, you could not ask me a simple question, could you?" At her confused look he sighed and smoothed her hair back. "Yes, I have family, little one. Most of them, I wish I was not related to. I do have a little brother that I love, though. He is about your age."_

"_Will you miss him?"_

_There was another pause before he answered again. "Yes. But this mission is, in a way, for him. And for you as well."_

_A sleepy frown. "For me?"_

_He nodded gently. "Yes, for you. Has Hokage-sama taught you about the Will of Fire yet?" When she shook her head she could feel him smile. "You will learn more when you're older, but the important part is this…we must protect the ones we love, and protect the village. That is our duty, as ninja of Konoha. We are like no other village, in that respect. Many of the older ninja would disagree that the Will of Fire is important, because ninja are tools, but it was why Konoha was formed."_

_Blond eyebrows furrowed as the little girl processed this information. "So…this mission is to protect your little brother? And me?"_

_He nodded again. "Yes, it is. There are many things that I can't tell you now, but I will make sure there is a way for you to find out what happened, when you're older."_

**-~|(●****)|~-**

A few days later found her in the Hokage's office, laughing at the look on his face as he looked over her ninja registration. She commented conversationally, "It took me forever to find a good face for that, old man. What do you think?"

He looked up at her slowly and let out a long-suffering sigh, and then replied, "Retake it."

She bristled. "It's artistic, old man! You can't mean that!" She was in high spirits after Mizuki's defeat and her subsequent graduation, her urge towards mischief fully aroused by her good cheer.

Sarutobi shook his head. "This document is the most important of your life, allowing you access to other countries and confirming you as a shinobi of Konoha. It's bad enough that the gender on it is wrong, without the picture being like this. Retake it!"

She growled in annoyance, and then suddenly got that ominous sparkle in her living sapphire eyes. Her hands came up in a seal in front of her, and then with a puff of smoke she was suddenly replaced by a stunning blond woman of generous proportions, her vital parts artfully obscured by lingering clouds of smoke. "Please, Hokage-sama…"

She heard the door creep open as the old man was downed with a massive nosebleed, but she chose to ignore it as she released the jutsu and cracked up at the way the highly respected village leader was twitching on the floor behind his desk. He managed to gather his dignity quickly, straightening himself and commenting in a mild tone, "Oiroke no jutsu. That's a devastating jutsu that you have there."

She was about to reply, when suddenly the door burst open, and a small boy threw himself inside with a pair of shuriken in his hands, yelling about old geezers and how he would be the fifth Hokage…only to trip over his own feet when he was a little over half way to the desk. She was less than impressed. The kid curled up and whined on the floor, starting to sit up just as a black-clad, almost dorky looking ninja burst into the room behind him. The kid demanded loudly, "Who set a trap?"

The ninja looked around the room. "Are you okay, young master? There are no traps in this room!"

She sat there, almost twitching, as the kid got up and made his way over to her. He pointed at her accusingly. "You! I know you did something!" The Hokage was uncharacteristically silent, and she wasn't exactly sure she liked the way the black-clad ninja was looking at her, but she focused her attention on the kid.

Never one to keep her temper when provoked, she grabbed the kid by his silly, over-sized blue scarf as she stood. "Idiot! You tripped over yourself!" She cocked her first, ready to punch the kid, who stared at her like he didn't really believe she'd hit him.

The black-clad ninja spoke up in alarm. "Hey! Let go of him! That's Hokage-sama's grandson!"

The kid somehow managed to look both superior and disappointed at the same time. "What's wrong? If you think you can punch me, go ahead! Now that you know I'm the Hokage's grandson, you're just like…"

Her patience snapped. She glared at the kid she was holding and yelled, "Like I give a damn!" She punched him on the head and then dropped him. "You moron!"

The kid's ninja babysitter looked stunned, so she stomped past him and pulled out her real registration. "Here, old man." He looked somewhat amused as he stamped and signed it, and then watched her stomp out of the room.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_She was now 4 years old, and not a terribly large 4 years old at that. Weasel-nii-san had been gone for two months, and she was getting lonely without him. He had not been able to see her often, but 'not often' was better than 'not at all'. She still made her daily trips to the park. She was picked on a lot by the other kids, whose parents seemed to encourage that behavior towards her, so she was becoming a tough little thing. The few adults that cared enough to pay attention had noted that she was quickly turning into a little tomboy, not that she really knew what that meant. She just knew that she would rather stand her ground and fight, and she wasn't afraid to get dirty, or skin her knees...unlike the other girls._

_Her one and only really girlish trait was her hair. She'd learned early how to take care of it, and it was wonderfully long, hanging past her waist when it was loose. Not as soft as some of the other girls' hair, but she loved the way it felt when she brushed it, and loved to play with it and braid it when she was alone. She was so proud…the other girls had mothers to show them how to braid, but she'd figured it out all on her own, after hours of trial and frustration. To her young mind that was quite the accomplishment._

_It was a beautiful spring day, and the old man had just told her that she was going to be allowed to go to the Academy that coming year, after she turned 5. He told her that he was going to make some time for her, a little every week, between then and when she entered to help her with the kinds of skills that parents normally taught their children before sending them to the Academy. She was incredibly self-sufficient, but she was sorely lacking in certain skills…like the ability to write her own name. She was so excited by it all._

_She had decided she was going to spend the rest of the afternoon in her favorite park. She wasn't big on sitting still, but she enjoyed climbing the trees and watching the animals from her usual perch. That afternoon there were families in the park, enjoying the beauty of the warm, sunny afternoon. She avoided these, making her way quickly to an empty corner of the park…empty because it was so densely grown that playing in it was difficult._

_She had swung herself quickly up into the tree with the agility of a squirrel, when she became aware of a group of much older children headed her way. She settled on a broad branch with her back to the trunk of the tree, watching the group warily. They were probably 7 or 8 years old, all Academy students from the looks of it, and they were all at least a head taller than her. She hoped for a moment that they were merely coming to play ninja in the dense little bit of woods, but that hope was firmly squashed when the ringleader looked up at her with a grin full of an emotion she couldn't yet name. It wasn't a nice emotion though, and she had seen it far too often in some adults._

_She started playing absently with the tip of her braided hair, watching as the group stopped at the bottom of the tree. When the leader didn't say anything, she grew impatient and growled, "What'd you want?"_

_The boy that was obviously the leader smirked. "My mother said that you're a monster. She said we're not allowed to play with people like you."_

_She snorted, and answered with considerable scorn. "Why you over here then? Shouldn't you listen to your mama?" Being called a monster hurt…but she knew better than to let it show that it hurt._

_The boy's grin grew, and the group of boys and girls around him began to giggle. "Well, we figured if you're a monster, there's sumthing we're gonna have to fix."_

_She blinked at that. "Fix? Huh?"_

_She didn't get time for any more than that before several of the children swarmed up the tree, catching her by surprise. She didn't go quietly though…they dragged her out of the tree, kicking and screaming. Even at that age, she had the satisfaction of getting in a bite or three, and several well placed kicks. It was inevitable though that they got her on the ground, pinned face down by several bodies. None of the adults in the park would have cared if they'd heard anyways._

_The leader of the little group crouched down by her head. She bared her teeth at him, growling and continuing to struggle pointlessly. His grin had that strange, unidentifiable emotion in it again. It wasn't until much later in her life that she would learn to label that emotion as 'sadistic'. "You see, a bunch of us figured that there's sumthing wrong with you if you're a monster. Monsters don't have such pretty hair. So we're gonna fix that for you!" She also learned much later that, despite the boy's belief…monsters could indeed have pretty hair. Monsters could be frighteningly beautiful. The boy pulled out a kunai, filched from a parent's belongings, and her screams of rage and anguish hit a new peak as he reached down to grab her braid._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Naruto was almost out of sight of the Hokage Tower, walking at a casual pace and catching her breath, when she noticed she was being shadowed. Ineptly shadowed. She stopped and turned, noticing a rock in the middle of the walkway. A rock that wasn't there when she passed the spot moments before. A rock…with feet. She closed her eyes, pressing a finger to her forehead and taking a deep breath for control…and then continued on, ignoring her new-found shadow. She got a few more feet, sensing her shadow following along behind her…and then turned to point at the section of fence that was quite obviously turned the wrong way, with a helmet and hair sticking out the top, and feet visible at the bottom. "Stop following me! What the hell do you want?" She twitched a little, not sure if she should be annoyed or just laugh her ass off at the kid. "You're not fooling anyone."

The kid laughed a little. "Impressive to see through this! The rumors about you are true." She stopped herself from snorting. Rumors…_right_. The kid walked up to her and pointed a finger at her. "Hey! I'm going to let you be my boss!" She didn't look impressed. "In exchange, teach me that oiroke no jutsu you defeated my grandfather with!"

She looked at the kid skeptically…but then remembered the look on his babysitter's face when he saw her, and suddenly grinned and nodded. "Okay! C'mon!" She dragged the kid off for training and practice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...there would be much SasuNaru action if I did!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Three**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_It had taken her several hours to get over the loss of her hair. She had taken a kunai when she got home and evened it out as best she could. It seemed to naturally stand in spikes at this length, no matter what she did with it. She'd spent over an hour trying to tame it, to no avail. She stared at herself in the mirror, tears still giving her bright blue eyes that watery look. She hated crying, but the shock of her loss had driven all thought from her for quite a while._

_She looked over at the clock on her nightstand. She was going to have to go out soon…the old man had promised to take her out for a bowl of ramen today, to celebrate his earlier news. She couldn't just skip out…even she understood how difficult it was for the old Hokage to take time out of his schedule for something like ramen._

_She cleaned herself up, washing her puffy face and putting on clean clothing. The old man was going to ask enough questions as it was without her showing up all dirty. She didn't like telling him how the other kids treated her. He had enough problems, and she didn't really feel right bringing it up. She'd decided very early that she was going to handle as much as she possibly could herself._

_The old man was already waiting when she made it to Ichiraku. She sat down on the stool beside him, the smell of her favorite treat cheering her up. "Miso ramen please, old man!"_

_The elderly Hokage looked over at her, his expression becoming one of surprise. "Child, what happened to your hair?"_

_Tears threatened again, but she pushed them down firmly as she scratched the back of her head and replied sheepishly, "It was getting in my way! I'm gonna be a real ninja some day, so I can't have it in my way." She turned to the bowl that was put in front of her with evident delight. She caught the look of sadness on the old man's face, but it was gone so quickly she figured it must have been her imagination._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Naruto blinked sleepily as her alarm clock started buzzing. She had set her alarm…why had she set her alarm? She had a vague feeling that it was for something important, so she shut it off with a groan and dragged herself out of bed. She padded sleepily over to her calendar to take in the red circled, boldly marked day on the calendar. Orientation day! Never a morning person, she went about her morning routine quietly as she attempted to wake up. It wasn't that she wasn't excited…she just hated mornings.

A cup of ramen and a glass of milk later, she was almost feeling ready to face the day. She stared at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, and wondered for the first time in a very long time what things would have been like if she hadn't decided to let it slip the villagers' minds that she was a girl. So many things had made the decision all too easy for her…

Her hand reached unconsciously up to her brutally short, spiky hair. She shook her head to clear the memory away, walking over to put on her forehead protector. That alone was worth it all. Now wasn't the time to be questioning her past decisions…she'd have plenty of time to think when she was finished her orientation later.

She looked up at her face in the mirror again, startled for a moment by her own grim expression. But then she looked at the way the band of engraved metal looked on her…and she couldn't help grinning. She was officially a Konoha genin! She was one step closer to her dream! And…as she looked at her clock through the reflection in the mirror, she realized she was going to be late!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She wasn't even close to late, and as she looked around the classroom she realized that she'd outsmarted herself. She had set her clock forward, to offset her tendency to oversleep, and then promptly forgotten that she'd done so. Only about half the graduates had arrived, so she heaved a silent sigh of relief and made her way to an empty seat in the middle of the room to keep a better eye on the door.

Several minutes later, Shikamaru was heading for a spot at the back of the room when he caught sight of her. He stopped in front of her, frowning. "Naruto, this orientation is only for graduates."

She gave him her biggest, foxiest grin as she pointed at her forehead protector. "Check it out! I'm supposed to be here, Shikamaru! So there!" She wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue at him, then started laughing at his vaguely offended expression. He walked off with a shake of his head and a muttered, "Troublesome."

Ino and Sakura came racing in the door at that point, practically neck and neck. They promptly got into a fight about who arrived first, and therefore got to sit beside 'Sasuke-kun'. She was putting her head down and preparing to tune them out, when suddenly the fighting turned on her. She looked up quickly as Sakura was suddenly next to her desk, snapping, "Naruto! What are you doing sitting there? You're not worthy to sit beside Sasuke-kun!"

Wait, what? She turned her head quickly, only to find the previously unnoticed Sasuke sitting beside her, in all his brooding glory. She scowled…had he been sitting there when she sat down? She really couldn't remember. She turned back to Sakura, still scowling. "Sasuke, Sasuke, what's so great about this jerk? I'm a way better ninja than he is!" She jumped up on the desk, crouching in front of him and leaning into his face, growling softly. "Broody bastard!" He glared at her, and she really couldn't see what other girls saw in him…but then, that could be said about many things. She was just about to turn back to address the fit that Ino and Sakura were throwing over her comment, when suddenly an elbow rammed right into her ass…pushing her right into the Uchiha bastard's lips.

The world stopped for a moment…but not because she was enjoying it. You know that moment of absolute shock that takes you when unexpected disaster hits? Yeah, that's what it was. And, judging by the absolute silence of her peers in general, and the stiff, unmoving form of a certain bastard in particular…she wasn't the only one hit by that shock. The moment she recovered, she yanked herself back, nearly falling off the desk in her need to get away and start gagging. Apparently the feeling was mutual…she could hear the Uchiha gagging too. The silence of her peers continued for another moment, before being broken by the sudden screech of a delicate, pink-haired kunoichi. "Naruto!"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_She wasn't entirely sure when she'd come up with the idea of pretending to be a boy. Maybe the fact that the villagers now frequently mistook her for one, with her short, spiky hair, was what prompted the idea to foster that image. It didn't really matter though; she found that being mistaken for a boy immediately reduced the number of people looking for a little…fun. The beatings she could take. The attempts at other things…well, without Weasel-nii-san there to protect her it was difficult to get away on her own. It was obvious that the military population of the village was confused by her seeming change of gender, but no one questioned her about it._

_So, she spent her time watching. She was getting very good at hiding now, which helped reduce her encounters with those that wanted to take their frustrations out on her. There were few in the village that seemed to look at her without the fear and loathing that she really didn't understand, but those that did seemed to push people to forget she was ever a girl. Most people were hard pressed to recall her name anyways._

_It was the week before she was about to enter the Academy that the Hokage finally sat down to talk to her about it. They were having cookies in his office when he attempted to broach the topic with some delicacy. "Hotaru? Why…"_

_She interrupted him with a shrewd look in her big, blue eyes. "Naruto."_

_He blinked as she went back to calmly nibbling on her cookie, looking as though she hadn't interrupted him. "Excuse me?"_

_She gave him a foxy grin. "Not Hotaru…Naruto. My name is Uzumaki Naruto." She waved a cookie airily. "I know you're getting old, but I didn't think you were that old, old man."_

_He watched her for a moment with a bemused look. "Really…I could have sworn there was a little girl named Hotaru in here with me. She's the one I invited for cookies, after all." He laced his fingers together, leaning forward on his desk as he went along with the girl's little game. "So, Naruto, can you tell me what happened to Hotaru, then?"_

_The blond pinned the elderly leader with a look that was entirely too mature for her age. Heartrendingly so, in his opinion. "Naruto doesn't get chased and hit as much as Hotaru did. People see boys differently, you know. And there were…" She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Other things. Things that they won't do to a little boy." She shrugged and nibbled on her cookie. __She was remarkably astute for a girl her age. She had to be._"Sorry, old man, after I cut my hair it just made things…easier."

_Sarutobi looked at the little girl with dismay. He had known things weren't easy for the girl, Weasel had briefed him, but he didn't realize that gender made it that much harder. He wished there was more that he could do for her, and cursed the council for tying his hands in all matters concerning her. "Surely, there is a better way…"_

_She pouted at him. "Nah…I like it this way. I don't wanna do the girly stuff in the Academy anyways." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I wanna learn to be a better ninja, not all that girly stuff."_

_He chuckled softly at that. "The kunoichi use 'that girly stuff' for infiltration, Ho…ah, Naruto. And for…well, things you'll learn about when you're older." He coughed._

_She rolled her eyes and gagged. "I can't be like that. So I'll just do the boy stuff!"_

_He sighed. "Is there no way that I can change your mind, Hotaru? This really isn't a very good idea…" She crossed her arms and glared at him, her jaw taking on that stubborn tilt that always meant he was about to lose an argument because she simply wouldn't budge. "Fine. Naruto it is."_

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sarutobi looked at the gathering of jounin in front of his desk gravely. "All of you have been chosen to test a team of potential genin. This is a special responsibility, and an incredible trust. These children are our future. Through them, we will pass on our Will of Fire. It is completely up to you, whether you pass or fail the team you are given. You are all experienced, seasoned ninja. You are all capable of telling if a team has the ability required to be true genin. And I trust the judgment of every one of you. Iruka is briefing the class of graduates now, and giving out team assignments. Please attend the class after the Academy lunch break to meet your team and start getting your measure of them. Dismissed."

He indicated to a certain silver-haired jounin that he wanted him to remain, studying the man as the remaining jounin cleared out of the room. He was proud of how he had turned out, and had picked him as best suited to evaluate and lead a very special team. Kakashi had turned out as both a force to be reckoned with, and a fine example of Konoha's Will of Fire. Sarutobi had been saddened by the events that had tempered him into the man he had become, but satisfied with how he had handled it, despite his seemingly bad habits. And really, who was he to quibble? He'd been known to indulge in a certain former student's books occasionally himself…

When it was finally just him and Kakashi left in the room, he gestured for the jounin to have a seat. "I have given you a very specific team, Kakashi. I have assigned to you the three of the class of graduates with the greatest potential. You will have Team 7…Uchiha Sasuke, this class's Rookie of the Year. Highest grades in the class, passed in the top percentile. There are the obvious reasons that he would benefit best from your instruction over that of any other jounin. I also trust that you'll see the less obvious reasons when you meet him." The masked man nodded, and Sarutobi continued on, "The second in your team is one Haruno Sakura. Also passed in the top percentile, second only to Sasuke. Her grasp of theory and her chakra control are well above the average genin level, but her practical skills leave something to be desired. You would be the best one to help bring her along in that area. She is the mid-level genin in your group. Your final student is…" He hesitated for a moment while he mentally debated whether he had the right to tell Kakashi Naruto's secret, which earned him a raised eyebrow from Kakashi. It had been so long that no one really remembered the quiet little girl as anything but the boisterous boy she was pretending to be. He finally decided that telling him would probably unforgivably alienate the girl. "…Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi's interest seemed to peak at that one. "The Kyuubi vessel?" The curiosity was evident in his normally indifferent tone.

The old man nodded. "Yes. Naruto is something of a…frustration at times. He has the lowest marks in the class, ranking last among his peers. His grasp of theory is abysmal, and his chakra control is erratic. That was why I was able to team him with the other two without comment; very few see what he'll be capable of, one day. Despite his poor control, his chakra reserves are at an unheard of level for a genin. He also has an ability to take incredibly complex concepts and instinctively translate them into terms that he can understand. Some of the simplest ideas elude him at times, and his attention span can be woefully short, but his ability to think on his feet will make him a great field strategist, if channeled properly."

Kakashi looked thoughtful at that. "They may not pass, Hokage-sama. If they don't see it, I won't pass them…no matter how talented they are. I think this village has had enough of talent."

Sarutobi nodded. "I know. That's another reason I chose you. Any of the others may have passed them, simply because of that potential. If you say they're not ready though, your decision will stand."

The masked jounin looked satisfied by that answer. "I'd like to see where they live first, before I meet them."

The elderly Hokage nodded. "I expected that. We have plenty of time before you're supposed to meet them…and we both know you wouldn't have been on time anyways."

Sarutobi showed Kakashi to Sakura's place first, where her mother was overjoyed to welcome the Hokage and her beloved daughter's new teacher. She showed them up to Sakura's room, and was almost disappointed when the elderly leader gently shooed her off back to her interrupted work, with the firm assurance that they could show themselves out.

The girl's room was tidy, well kept, and well organized. There wasn't a lot of clutter, but there were many books on ninja theory. Her weapons were all neatly put away. Kakashi approved for the most part, though he did raise an eyebrow at the full length mirror against one wall. Vanity was a normal trait in a young girl, but it was one that most dedicated kunoichi grew out of. He wondered how long it would take Sakura to grow out of it.

Sasuke's apartment was obsessively neat, and full of nothing but ninja gear and books. The furniture was sparse, and there was no real sign of a lived-in look in it at all. Kakashi frowned a little at that. "Hokage-sama, is training all he does?"

The old man nodded. "He is quite obsessed with becoming stronger. I think we can both guess why. I'm hoping that Naruto's prankster nature will help pull him out of that shell somewhat. No shinobi is ever really stable, but Sasuke is the last remaining Uchiha, and a precious child of Konoha besides. It wouldn't do to have him snap, and it would be nice to see him enjoy himself sometimes. The child is far too serious."

Naruto's apartment wasn't tidy, nor was it particularly empty. Battered furniture, clutter on the kitchen table, and many nick-knacks and homey objects were scattered about the small apartment. Kakashi looked quite pleased by it. "What an interesting place. The boy has certainly turned into an interesting person. Reminds me of a certain person I used to know…" He stared at the ramen poster on one wall with a chuckle.

Sarutobi smiled, though he just wanted to hit the jounin over the head with the facts that he was obviously missing, the things that he had forgotten with everyone else. "Yes, Naruto has certainly turned out well. He'll be an outstanding shinobi, some day. He's going to be a handful though…do you think you can handle the three of them, Kakashi?"

The silver-haired jounin nodded, his visible eye getting that smiley look. "Of course, Hokage-sama. I've always liked a challenge. It will certainly be a challenge to keep up to these three."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_Her first day at the Academy had been terrible. The kids all either shunned her or picked on her, and the sensei all seemed to hold that mysterious grudge against her. It was frustrating! Despite the time that the old man had taken to teach her the basics, she was far behind the others already._

_The weeks that followed didn't get any better. She worked and struggled to learn what the sensei was teaching, but he just wouldn't help her when she asked for it. Question after question went ignored, and she didn't have the money to get the scrolls for extra study like the other children did._

_The first month was nearly over when she had her first odd encounter with her sensei. Her sensei, Iruka, had been giving her odd looks for the last week. He'd been watching her struggle with a blank expression since the beginning, but this week his expression had seemed…hesitant._

_She was sitting on what had become 'her' swing in the front yard, watching the other children leave with a somewhat dejected feeling, when he finally approached her. He once again got that hesitant expression. "Naruto? I noticed you haven't been getting the homework done…"_

_She eyed him warily before replying in an indignant tone, "I don't understand it, and no one will help me, Iruka-sensei. I can't finish it!"_

_She saw his expression harden a fraction, and knew it had been the wrong thing to say. "You need to spend more time studying, Naruto!"_

_She groaned in frustration, and then took a deep breath and said stiffly, "What do ya think I'm doing! Not like I got anything else to do…" She threw herself off of the swing and fled, leaving her sensei with a bewildered expression behind her._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Naruto almost felt sorry for Sakura as she watch the Uchiha brush her off with casual callousness when they all went off the eat lunch. He lost the pair of them quickly enough, and Sakura just wasn't adept enough to follow him. She decided to approach her new teammate after watching the girl call Sasuke as though she expected him to answer. "Hey Sakura, wanna eat lunch together?"

The kunoichi turned on her with an angry expression. "Why would I want to eat lunch with you?"

Naruto gave her a bright, foxy grin. "Because we're teammates now, and this is a good time to get to know each other?"

The other girl stared at her for a moment, clearly digesting that. She took one last look around for her beloved Sasuke, and then sighed and nodded. "Yeah, okay. Maybe Sasuke will join us later!"

Naruto resisted the urge to give the girl a disbelieving look, instead turning to lead the way to one of the stone benches along the Academy walkway. They both sat down, digging out their various lunches. Sakura had a beautiful bento, lovingly created and artfully perfect. It kind of made the messy sandwich that Naruto pulled out look….squashed. And pathetic. Naruto didn't care though…she couldn't bring ramen with her for lunch, so she'd pretty much just thrown whatever together. Sakura looked a little disgusted by her sandwich, but didn't comment. They both ate in silence for a bit, before Sakura finally spoke up hesitantly. "Hey…do you not know how to cook or something?"

The blond shrugged indifferently. "I can make stuff…mostly. But if it's not ramen, it's not worth much time!" She grinned brightly at Sakura's surprised expression. "Who needs to cook when they could have a ramen cup?"

Sakura gaped for a moment. "But…you live alone! How can you not know how to cook?"

She shrugged again. "I dunno…does 'Sasuke-kun' know how to cook? He lives alone too, you know."

Sakura lapsed into that dreamy look. "I'm sure Sasuke-kun knows how. He's so perfect, how could he not?" She giggled in the most disgustingly girlish way Naruto had ever heard.

The blond snorted. "Whatever. You know, this was a bad idea…see you in class." She was scowling as she got up and left, leaving Sakura gaping in surprise yet again. She just couldn't take the fangirl…fawning over Sasuke like that was something she just didn't understand.

Sakura was still trying to digesting Naruto abandoning her several minutes later, when Sasuke passed her on his way to class. He was rather startled when she fell in beside him without as much as a squeal. She asked quietly, "Sasuke-kun…what do you think of Naruto?"

He managed to hide his surprise well, thinking about it for a moment. "He is…different. Weak. Spends too much time fooling around, and not enough training. He's…annoying."

He was once again surprised by Sakura's frown as she replied in a neutral tone, "I'm beginning to think we've all missed something about him, then." She sped up, actually leaving him behind for a change. He wondered just what they had done over lunch to make Sakura start reconsidering the dead last.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_It was in her second month of school that she discovered the joy of pranking. Her very first prank was on Iruka-sensei, slipping into the classroom early to fill his desk with frogs and tadpoles. She had been infuriated by his attempt to accuse her of not studying, and quickly discovered that pranking was an easy, harmless way to let off steam and get back at those adults that bothered her most. Her pranking also had the side effect of getting her into the good books of the other delinquents of the class, like Inuzuka Kiba and Nara Shikamaru. They weren't exactly friends, but she found that she wasn't ignored quite so much, and some of the bullying attempts stopped._

_Another event happened that month that helped her greatly. She came home about a week after the frog incident, still loaded down with extra homework as punishment for the prank, to find that her battered little table had been loaded down with those study scrolls that she couldn't afford. In fact, there were many more scrolls there than just those, scrolls for subjects that she wouldn't study for years yet. There was still no guarantee that she would understand it all, but they would definitely help. A thorough search of the table revealed nothing about the giver of the scrolls, leading her to believe that they must be from Weasel-nii-san. It was disappointing that he couldn't stop to see her, but she was touched by the gift all the same._

_The following month finally saw a real breakthrough with Iruka-sensei. He had taken to watching her during study time and subtly correcting her whenever he walked by, but during the second week of the month he finally started answering her questions during class. It was the first of many leaps in their relationship. He seemed to be warming to her slowly._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Naruto was bored…and a bored Naruto was a dangerous Naruto. The rest of the teams had already been collected by their jounin-sensei, but Team 7 was still waiting for theirs. He was over an hour late now. Even Iruka had left. Contemplating all of the tricks available to her, she startled her teammates when she sprung up, dashing to the chalkboard to grab a chalk brush. She dragged Iruka's desk chair over to the door with her, and ignored the disbelief of her teammates as she wedged the brush with the chalk side down in the top of the door.

Sakura looked at the brush uncertainly. "Naruto, our teacher is a jounin level ninja…they're never going to fall for that!"

Sasuke opted to remain silent, and the three of them tensed as they heard footsteps in the hallway. Naruto was practically dancing in anticipation. A hand slipped in the crack of the open door, and a head came forward as the person pushed the door open…and Naruto practically stopped breathing, she was laughing so hard at the cloud of chalk dust around the jounin's head. Her other two teammates seemed stunned that the supposed jounin had actually fallen for Naruto's prank.

The silver-haired man looked annoyed as he stepped into the room…well, as annoyed as one can look when so little of their face is visible. Sakura started babbling about how it had all been Naruto's idea, and she had 'tried to stop him'. The jounin held up his hand, cutting off Sakura's babbling. He looked them over and drawled, "My first impression of you is…I hate you all. Meet me on the roof." And with that, he poofed, disappearing with a teleportation jutsu.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...I'm not orange enough!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Four**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Naruto couldn't help but wonder what the old man was thinking when he gave them this weirdo as a sensei. They were all sitting on the rooftop, with the silver-haired jounin leaning against the railing and the three genin sitting on the steps. He had naturally beaten them up to the roof, and seemed indifferent as they seated themselves. Sakura sat in the middle of the steps, with Naruto and Sasuke on either side of her. Their new sensei said in a bored tone, "Well, I think you should all introduce yourselves now."

Sakura frowned a little. "Introduce ourselves? What do you want us to say, sensei?"

The man shrugged a little. "Oh, the usual. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams."

Naruto was practically bouncing. "You should go first, sensei, so we know what to say!"

The jounin looked somewhat thoughtful at that. "My name…is Hatake Kakashi. My likes…I dislike many things. I have hobbies. And I have no intention of telling you my dreams."

Sakura looked at Kakashi sourly, and protested, "All we learned is your name!" Naruto wasn't really deterred though. She was used to people not telling her anything, so why would this man be any different?

He shrugged. "Whatever. Your turn, pinkie."

Sakura looked slightly offended by the nickname, but shrugged it off quickly. "Okay. My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes…" She glanced at Sasuke, her cheeks turning faintly pink. "My hobbies…" Again she glanced at Sasuke, turning a little pinker. "And my dreams…" She squealed, practically overcome by the presence of her beloved Sasuke. Naruto wondered if they were going to have to revive the girl every few days from 'Sasuke overdose'. And the old man wondered why she didn't want to be considered a kunoichi…

The silver-haired jounin watched Sakura's antics impassively, and then raised an eyebrow slightly. "And what do you dislike?"

Sakura actually hesitated for a moment…or maybe it was just Naruto's imagination, but she seemed to…before the kunoichi shot a glare her way and answered vehemently, "Naruto!"

Kakashi didn't even bat an eyelash at that, nodding at Naruto. "You next."

Naruto grinned; shaking off the slightly cynical mood she'd started falling into, she answered with her normal, boundless enthusiasm. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I love cup ramen, and Ichiraku ramen which Iruka takes me to get! I hate the three minute wait for cup ramen to cook! My hobbies are to try and compare different kinds of cup ramen, and to play pranks! And my dream…is to be the greatest Hokage in Konoha ever, no matter what it takes!"

The masked man looked at Naruto somewhat speculatively, seeming oh-so-faintly pleased by her answer. Not that she could be sure of that, with so little of his expression visible, but that's what it seemed like to her. He nodded at Sasuke. "Your turn, kid."

Sasuke sat there in what Naruto liked to call his 'broody' position. Elbows resting on his knees, fingers laced together, chin on his hands. He didn't really have any expression at all as he answered Kakashi. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't really like much, and there are many things I dislike." He glanced slightly in Naruto's direction at that, but continued smoothly, "My dreams are…ambitions that I have no intention of leaving as dreams. To revive my clan, and to kill a certain man…"

Naruto watched Sakura swoon, now quite sure that the girl was going to do herself damage with Sasuke so close all the time. Ah well…she wouldn't have any clue how to revive the kunoichi anyways, so that was Kakashi's problem. She brought her attention back to the present as the jounin started speaking.

Kakashi nodded, satisfied. "Well, you all have unique personalities. I like that. We're going to be doing a mission tomorrow."

Naruto started bouncing in her spot. "What kind of mission, sensei?"

The jounin watched her for a moment in amusement before answering, "A mission that only we can do…we'll be doing survival training."

All three genin frowned at that, and Sakura immediately protested, "But, sensei, we did survival training in the academy!"

Kakashi explained patiently, "This won't be any ordinary survival training."

Naruto was a little confused by that. "What kind of training is it then?"

The masked man started to laugh…which was kind of a creepy sight. She glanced at her teammates…Sasuke's eyes had narrowed, increasing that broody look of his, and Sakura was looking somewhat annoyed, and rather sulky. "What's so funny, sensei?" Yes, the kunoichi definitely had an annoyed edge to her voice.

Kakashi started to wave his hand like it was nothing. "Well, if I tell you the three of you are going to be surprised!" Naruto continued to watch, puzzled, as the jounin continued. "Out of twenty-seven graduates coming out of the Academy, only nine are actually going to become genin. The other eighteen will be sent back." Naruto's heart froze at that. All that work to pass, all that pain…and she still might not get to become a genin? She was barely listening as the silver-haired man continued on. "In other words, this training is going to be a very difficult test, with a 66% rate of failure." He started laughing again, clearly enjoying their shock. "See? You're all surprised!"

Naruto just stared dumbly for a moment before her anger surged up. "What? I went through all that trouble…what was the final exam for then?"

Kakashi shrugged. "That? That's just to weed out the ones that are unqualified to become genin. Only the best become actual genin, though."

"What?" She was furious. Why had no one every told them that? What a cruel joke! Well, she definitely wasn't going back to the Academy. No matter what…she'd finally earned her forehead protector, and there was no way she was giving it back.

Their sensei seemed indifferent to the moods of his students. "Anyway, I'm going to decide whether you pass or fail tomorrow at the training grounds. Bring your equipment and meet at 5 am! Now then…meeting's over. Oh, and don't eat breakfast tomorrow. You're going to throw it up if you do." With that, the jounin disappeared again.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_It was close to the end of her first year at the Academy when the Uchiha Massacre took place. She came home the evening of the massacre, though she didn't know that yet, to discover a note on her pillow._

"_Little one,_

_I know it has been a while since you've seen me. I've kept my eye on you as much as I could during the course of my mission, and while I have been puzzled by some of your choices, I'm pleased by your progress. Unfortunately, my mission will now be keeping me out of Konoha for a very long time, so I will no longer be able to give you what little help I've been able to manage. From this point forward, you are on your own._

_I have one thing that I would like to ask you. My little brother is among your classmates. I can't tell you his name, but you're a smart girl. I'm sure that you'll figure out who he is. Troubled times are coming for my family, and I would like you to help him as much as you can. Your own situation will make you uniquely suited to helping him. I know you won't understand now, but I'm sure that you will some day._

_Stay safe,_

_Weasel"_

_She stared at the letter helplessly. She had no idea who his little brother might be, despite his certainly that she was smart._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

As she lay in bed that evening she thought about the events of the day, and the potential future. She didn't question her resolve. She had no doubt that she was going to become a genin. Failure just wasn't an option, after the faith that Iruka had shown in her. But the old man had been bugging her about her secret, and seemed certain that she needed to tell her new team. She wasn't so sure…she'd spent so long presenting a strong image to the rest of the world. Could she count on them to treat her just the same as they had before? Probably not…if Sasuke and Kakashi knew, they'd probably relegate her to the same category as Sakura. That was something she couldn't stand. She intended to be every bit the ninja that the 'Uchiha prodigy' was, and she'd never get the same kind of training if Kakashi thought she was like Sakura. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't stand the thought of Sasuke dismissing her based on gender. If she was going to be underestimated, she wanted it to be based on her abilities, damnit!

After all this time, there was really only one person that remembered she was a girl…and that was the Hokage. The change hadn't happened gradually, but no one had ever paid attention enough to know her gender anyways. She was always just 'that monster', and dozens of other things no child should ever be called. She could see the expression on the old man's face as clearly now as if it had happened yesterday…

Could she really trust her team the way the Hokage thought she could? She trusted the old bastard, but she couldn't really bring herself to trust anyone else. Maybe with time…

But that was a decision for another day, a long time off. She pushed the remainder of that line of thought firmly out of her mind, curling up on her side. She fell asleep quickly.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It was bright and disgustingly early when she showed up at the training ground, her gear in the pack on her back. Sakura looked as enthusiastic as she felt, and the Uchiha bastard was as expressionless as normal. She yawned and waved as she approached. She muttered a drowsy, "Hey…" The pink-haired kunoichi graced her with a sleepy glare, and the Uchiha just replied with his usual, "Hn." Why was she stuck with them again? Kiba, or even Shikamaru, would have been so much more fun.

So she settled in to wait, slightly put out by the attitudes of her teammates. They waited…and waited…and waited…eventually Naruto sat on the ground and refused to get up, despite Sakura's insistence that their sensei would be there anytime. Yeah, right…even Sakura had sat down by the time the lazy jounin finally showed up, at quarter to eleven. Sasuke stood the entire time, stoic…or maybe just stupid, she wasn't sure.

She was on the verge of dozing off when she suddenly heard Kakashi's voice. "Good morning, everyone!"

She and Sakura stood up at the same time and shouted accusingly, "You're late!"

Kakashi replied, perfectly calm, "Well you see, there was a black cat that crossed my path, so I had to take another…" He sweat-dropped as his masterful excuse was lost on his glaring students, and then set an alarm clock down on the stump next to him before he continued, "Anyway, lets get started. The object of today's test will be to get these bells from me." He held up two bells tied to red strings, jingling them a little. "You will have until noon to get the bells from me. Anyone that doesn't have a bell by noon will spend lunch tied to a post…" He pointed at the three posts a short way down the field. "…and will go without lunch, while the rest of us eat in front of them." Naruto gasped in horror…well, not really horror. More like dismay…it certainly explained why the jounin hadn't wanted them to eat breakfast. Her teammates didn't look any more pleased with the situation than she was.

Sakura frowned thoughtfully for a moment before speaking up. "Sensei, why are there only two bells?"

He looked pleased by the question. "Hmm…well, that means that at least one person will be tied to the post. That person will fail, since they didn't complete the mission. And that person will go back to the Academy. It might be one of you…or it might be all three. You may use weapons. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

That made her angry…really, how fair was that? He obviously didn't expect them to succeed. And he was obviously enjoying the thought that one or more of them would fail! Why did one of them _have_ to fail? She stood for a moment with her fists clenched, listening to Sakura's protest that it was too dangerous. She really wasn't sure she cared at this point. If they hurt the man, then he didn't deserve to be a jounin…and maybe it would teach him something. She heard dimly that they were going to begin when Kakashi said 'start'…and as he drew breath to say it she was already drawing a kunai from her thigh holster and lunging at him. She'd show him to underestimate her!

She was startled when her lunge ended abruptly with the jounin's hand on her head, while his other hand held her fist, pointing her kunai at the back of her own head. She hadn't even seen him move! From the shocked look on the faces of her teammates, they hadn't either. He sounded amused as he told her, "Well, you have the right idea, shorty. But I haven't said start yet!"

Sasuke and Sakura were backing away slowly. Big help they were…well, if they were just going to back away while the jounin had her, well…screw them. She was no damsel in distress…she'd just have to think of a way to get a bell from the masked man herself. She thought best in tight situations anyways. She had done terribly in the Academy in part because she was a physical learner…she did much better with things demonstrated for her. Theory was all a bunch of gibberish, as far as she was concerned.

Kakashi let go of her, backing up a bit, and then yelled, "Start!" The other two leapt away immediately, concealing themselves in the trees. Which was ridiculous as far as Naruto was concerned…there was no way any of them was going to be able to hide well enough to fool the much older, _experienced_ ninja.

The jounin turned, watching her teammates as the leapt off into the cover of the woods, pretty much confirming her suspicion. She jumped too…but she only jumped back a few meters, giving herself some room to stand her ground and watch Kakashi. _She_ couldn't see her teammates, but that meant squat. She was sure that he knew exactly where they were. She watched him look around as he hung the bells from his belt, and nearly started laughing as his eye bugged out slightly when he found her still standing there. She found her anger melting away. She was no less determined, but there was really no point in being angry over something she wasn't going to be able to change. After a split second of shock, he spoke up. "Well, aren't you going to hide?"

She gave him her most mischievous grin. "Of course not! Why would a great ninja like me need to hide?"

He looked somewhat resigned, and she could almost hear her teammates groaning from there. Well good…let them. They'd find out later exactly how stupid hiding was anyways. She tightened her grip on her kunai as Kakashi reached into his weapon pouch. Was he seriously going to use weapons on them? Was he trying to kill them? She was startled when instead of pulling out a weapon he pulled out…a small orange book. She was outraged. "Hey, what are you doing?"

He opened the book to a page that was part way in. "I'm reading this book, of course. What does it look like?"

She growled, "Why are you reading it?" Maybe it was a book of ninjutsu…though from the look of the cover, it would have to be something along the lines of her oiroke no jutsu.

He looked at her for a moment impassively, and then shrugged. "Because I want to know what happens. Don't worry. You may attack. This won't change our fight any."

Her anger surged up again. It was one thing to not take them seriously, but to be so openly contemptuous…she rushed him without thinking, once again fighting with her all. Her taijutsu was a lot of rough and tumble, a very primal and unpolished style. She struck to hit hard, but she really wasn't sure yet where to best place her strikes. It was still a work in progress. In a flurry of kicks, punches and slashes, she managed not to land a single one properly. Despite the little orange book in one hand, he blocked them all effortlessly, with movements that were too fast for her inexperienced eyes to follow. It was clear that her speed was going to need some work…or her strength. Or both. That was something to decide later.

Her muscles screamed at her as the first exchange ended with Kakashi suddenly grabbing her ankle while she was mid-kick, smoothly redirecting her movement and using her own momentum to throw her off into the river. Hitting the water was a shock, driving the breath from her as she hit the surface uncontrolled and began to sink. This was no fair at all…how were any of them supposed to get those bells from the jounin? There just weren't enough of them!

Wasn't enough…she was suddenly sure that was her answer. She quickly formed the seal for the Kage Bunshin, creating ten clones. She was going to have to surface for breath in a moment, but she needed to make it look good when she did. She directed half of the clones downriver, and then crouched on the bottom of the river with the remaining five. She nodded at them, her lungs burning for air now, and then pushed off, propelling herself out of the river suddenly.

As long as it had seemed to her, it had only been seconds. Kakashi was still turning away from the river when she erupted out of it and lunged after him. She created another five clones as she ran for good measure, hoping that the visible show would confuse him when the other clones started joining the fray. She and the clones engaged, all kicking and punching in a way that seemed terribly random, but still managing not to get in each others' way. The jounin seemed surprised by the solid clones, but dispersed them and fought her off easily…until the clones from downriver suddenly joined the battle, several of them grabbing him from behind while the clones she'd left in the river in reserve emerge with a shower of water, rushing over to help keep him occupied while she reached for the bells dangling from his belt. Close…so close…but then one of the clones punched Kakashi in the face, and she was confused to be suddenly presented with a pair of orange clad legs. Kawarimi no jutsu! Her clones, not having seen what was happening from the perspective that she had, suddenly decided that the clone that Kakashi had replaced himself with was the jounin in disguise. With a soft curse, she dismissed her clones and looked around wildly for the missing shinobi.

It was then that she caught the glint of metal on the ground by a nearby tree. A bell! What luck! She grinned happily as she walked over to it. "He must have lost it in the scramble!" She stopped and reached down to pick it up…had a split second of foreboding…and suddenly found herself suspended by the ankles, hanging upside-down. When Kakashi emerged from the trees, she was far from pleased at the way he chuckled as he picked up the bell. He gave her a little smiley look, and then admonished, "A ninja must learn to look 'underneath the underneath', Naruto. You can't be caught by such stupid traps."

She huffed as he walked off, presumably to find her other teammates. This wasn't going at all as she'd hoped. Not that she was surprised. Really, it would have been surprising if she'd actually managed to get a bell from the masked man. As she hung there, she decided to think about strategy…no better place really. If she was hanging here, Kakashi was going to dismiss her as harmless. She'd just about decided that she was going to have to ask her teammates for help when the screaming started, feminine screaming. Her head snapped in the direction she could hear Sakura's screams from. What the hell was he _doing_ to her? She dug a kunai out, her stomach muscles protesting as she leaned up to grab the rope so that she could cut herself down. She landed in a graceful crouch for a change, almost sorry that no one was there to see it, just as the screaming abruptly stopped. Had Kakashi killed the kunoichi? She didn't really think much of her, but that definitely wasn't what she deserved. Before the blond had time to get any further than that, a second rope snapped up one of her ankles, dragging her back up into the tree again.

She sighed as it occurred to her that there was no way that the jounin had killed Sakura. The old man simply wouldn't have allowed someone like that to teach. She hung there for a little while longer as she thought some more, and came to the conclusion that this test was completely unfair for a reason. What that reason was, she had absolutely no clue, but there it was. She heard a scuffle off in the distance, concluding that Kakashi must have found the Uchiha. As much as it upset her to admit, she knew that if any one of them was going to get a bell, it was Sasuke. She waited for a few minutes, trying to determine the outcome, and then had to sigh when she heard the strangled cry of Sasuke. Nope…no bell for him. She wondered what the jounin had done to them anyways.

Before she could continue along that line of thought a glimpse of something over by the polished stone in the clearing caught her eye. She wiggled a little until she swung around to get a better view. The lunches! Damned Kakashi. She'd had no breakfast, and she was sure she wasn't going to be able to get a bell at this rate. She just didn't think as well when she was this hungry! Then it hit her…if she wasn't going to get a bell because it was with the jounin…maybe she could sneak some lunch! She reached up again to grab the rope, this time getting herself swinging before she cut it. She pushed herself off the tree trunk, jumping completely clear with a small cry of accomplishment.

If she'd had more time, she'd have done a little dance, but she was sure the jounin would be back to check on her soon. She sprinted for the stone, looking around carefully before reaching for the lunches. At that moment, a shadow fell across her and the stone. She gulped and turned slowly, laughing slightly. "Sensei! Imagine seeing you here!" The look in his eye wasn't promising. She started to back away slowly.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

_Her class was affected more than any other by the massacre, mostly because the last remaining Uchiha was one of her classmates. Uchiha Sasuke had been idolized by the girls before it happened, but when he came back to class changed, it was evident that this had only strengthened the girls' obsession with him. He suddenly became 'cool' and 'mysterious'. She wasn't sure where the girls were getting that. All she could see was that he was suddenly a lot quieter, with a seething rage beneath the surface. She watched with a feeling of disgust while the girls pitied him, but his increasing coldness towards the other students just made her angry. As his arrogant superiority grew, so did her anger, both towards him and the other girls in the class. She was increasingly relieved that she was not counted among the flighty, shallow ranks of the aspiring kunoichi. In the fuss, the letter from Weasel-nii-san slipped her mind._

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She was pissed off and still struggling as the alarm sounded and her teammates emerged from the woods, looking rather subdued. She'd been tied to the middle pole for the past ten minutes, and was none too pleased by both the early start and the wait. Kakashi directed the other two to have a seat by the pole she was tied to. "Well, I have to say; about the results of today's test…none of you need to return to the Academy."

Hope surged as Sakura started squealing. "We passed? But all I did was faint! Was that okay?"

The jounin shook his head. "What I mean to say is…" His voice boomed out over the squealing. "You three should quit being ninja!"

They all stared at him for a moment, shocked. Surely they couldn't have been that bad! She clenched her teeth, suddenly too angry to say a thing, but luckily Sakura voiced her protest for her. "What were we supposed to do, sensei? How could we possibly have gotten a bell from you, a jounin?"

Kakashi looked at her with a touch of disgust. "You all completely missed the point of this exercise. You three are little brats who don't deserve to be ninja!"

Sakura gasped, and Naruto was still too angry for words, but neither of them expected Sasuke to suddenly bolt up, rushing Kakashi. Before they could even blink, the jounin had the raven pinned on his stomach on the ground while he sat on his back. He looked up at them sternly. "Do you think being a ninja is easy? Why do you think we break you up into three-man cells?"

Naruto had no clue what bearing that had on the test, and Sakura looked just as confused as she felt. The kunoichi replied, "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "None of you understand what this exercise is about at all. Are you really all that brainless? What have they been teaching you in the Academy, that you can't answer this?"

Naruto finally snapped. "So? What is it about three-man teams then?"

The jounin looked rather resigned. "Teamwork."

They all looked stunned. Sakura was the first to recover enough to speak. "Teamwork? You mean, working together?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. But it's too late, even if you know that now. If all three of you had worked together, you might have been able to get a bell."

She still didn't quite understand, but Sakura was obviously coming to conclusions much faster than either she or Sasuke was. "But there are only two bells! Even if we all worked together, at least one person would still have to go back to the Academy! That's guaranteed to cause conflict!"

The jounin shook his head. "That's the point. This test tries to pit the three of you against each other. This test is to see if you can put the good of the team above the thought of yourself! And you all were pathetic. Sakura!" The girl flinched. "You value Sasuke above Naruto, to the point that you would leave Naruto hanging! Naruto!" She bared her teeth…if they'd had more time, she would have gone looking for them. "You attacked straight on, with no thought to the potential consequences for your team! Sasuke!" The stoic teen didn't even flinch, despite the jounin seated on his back. "You are convinced that you are better than them, and therefore don't need them. You tried to do it all yourself, thinking that they would only get in your way!" He tightened his grip on Sasuke, suddenly putting a kunai to his neck. "Sakura, kill Naruto or I'll kill Sasuke!" The girl was shocked speechless. Kakashi suddenly let the Uchiha up, pushing him towards the pole. "As ninja, you'll be forced to make decisions like this on a regular basis. The life of a ninja isn't easy or fun. There may come a time when you'll be forced to break or bend the rules for the sake of your team."

Sakura spoke softly, "But sensei, I thought the rules were everything?"

Kakashi shook his head again. "It's true that those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He turned and walked to the stone in front of the poles. "Do any of you know what this is? This stone is carved with the names of all the heroes of the village."

She felt her eyes get wide with excitement. "I'm going to be on that stone someday!"

The jounin turned back to them, his eye sad. "To get your name carved on this stone Naruto, you have to already be dead." The three genin looked shocked again, all suddenly very solemn. "We'll try again for you to get the bells after lunch. In the meantime…Sasuke, Sakura, you may have those two lunches there. But don't give any to Naruto, understand! He tried to steal some, so he can't have any as punishment!" The jounin walked off, leaving the three of them to their lunch.

She cursed Kakashi in her head, but tried valiantly to keep a happy face for her teammates. She didn't want to get them in trouble…this was all her own fault, after all. She laughed sheepishly as they started eating, and proclaimed, "It's all right! Really, I don't need anything at all!" And then her stomach growled painfully, betraying her horribly. She let her head droop, trying to shut out the sight of so much delicious food, when suddenly a bento was thrust under her face. She looked up, startled, to find Sasuke holding up his bento to her. She couldn't stop the faint blush that rose as she stared at him, looking into those deep black eyes. She said softly, "Sasuke, you'll get in trouble!"

The Uchiha quite determinedly looked anywhere but at her, his hair hiding his face. "You have to eat, or you'll be useless this afternoon. And besides, I can't sense him anywhere nearby anyway."

Sakura suddenly offered hers up as well. "Here, take mine instead. I don't need as much to eat as Sasuke-kun."

Naruto's eyes teared up a little. "I can have some from both…you both need to eat too! It's just…you're gonna have to…" She was quite embarrassed now as she flailed her bound arms a little.

Sakura turned a little red, immediately taking this as a ploy to be hand fed…of course, she realized quickly that there was no way Naruto was feeding herself without being untied, and that would immediately give things away when Kakashi came back. So she sighed and carefully took a bite of rice with her chopsticks. "Fine! But only this once, understand?"

She was raising the food up to Naruto's lips, when they were suddenly interrupted by a crack of thunder and a quickly darkening sky. Kakashi was suddenly standing in front of them with an ominous expression. He roared, "Why are you breaking the rule that I gave you! Naruto is not allowed to eat!"

Sasuke glared at the jounin, speaking up for the first time all morning. "Naruto needs to eat to be an effective member of the team! We couldn't just let him go hungry!"

Sakura seemed to gather her courage from their teammate's response. "We're supposed to be a team, right? We'd be terrible teammates if we didn't feed him when he needed it!"

Lightning flashed, and thunder cracked again in the background. Kakashi seemed to grow several feet as he shouted, "In that case, you all…pass!" The show suddenly died away, and he looked at them happily. For the millionth time, or so it seemed, they were all stunned. "All the other teams have followed that rule to the letter, even after the speech I gave you earlier. By disobeying me, you've shown the beginning of the dedication to your team needed to become a ninja. Congratulations! Let's go out for lunch to celebrate!"

A moment of silence passed, and then Sakura and Naruto started shouting and bouncing in glee. Even the broody Sasuke looked pleased, and somewhat amused by the antics of his teammates. Well, as close to amused as he ever got anyways. Then Sasuke suddenly moved in front of her, cutting the ropes holding her to the pole with a quick flick of a kunai. Hungry and slightly off balance from the unexpected release, she stumbled into him as the ropes fell away, and he was quick to catch her. They both froze for a moment before she pushed herself off of him. "I can walk just fine, bastard!"

Sasuke snorted. "Are you sure about that, dead last? Breathing seems to take a lot of your concentration." He gave her that infuriatingly superior smirk of his and any thought that he might not be so bad after all abandoned her.

She pushed him away from her, stomping off towards her other teammates, who were starting to leave with Sakura chattering animatedly with their sensei. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn she heard Sasuke laughing softly behind her. But that was a ridiculous thought…Uchiha bastards never laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...it would be a scary thing if I did!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Five**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

As she stood behind a tree, their 'target' within easy sight of her, she wondered idly if there was a way to go back in time and _kill_ the person who thought up the ninja mission system. These D-ranked 'missions' were a complete waste of their time and energy, and taking away from her training time. If someone needed to do them, why not get the Academy students do to them? When she got a hold of the old man he was _so_ getting an earful about this.

After nearly three weeks of these pitiful 'missions' her patience was just about at the breaking point. The Uchiha was too stubborn to say a word, and Sakura was too dutiful, but she wasn't going to take this shit any longer! The moment they finished this farce…speaking of, "This is Naruto, in position. I have the target in sight." She snorted as the others replied. 'Target' her ass. Why had generation after generation of new ninja put up with this? If she couldn't convince the old man, this was definitely going to change when _she_ became Hokage!

She heard the order from Kakashi to capture the 'target', and pounced out from behind the tree on the damned thing. It fought ferociously, but she fought back just as stubbornly while her teammates confirmed the hated furball's identity. By the time Kakashi appeared she had the thing turned away from her face, though it was still squirming. Her ominous muttering as they made their way back to the Tower with their unwilling captive was a source of vast amusement to her team, though the Uchiha would never admit it. They had 'rescued' this damned cat _way_ too many times. And she was always the one that ended up with the scratches!

She was still muttering death threats at the infernal feline well after they had handed it over to the daimyo's wife. She listened as the Hokage congratulated them on a successful mission, just barely holding back a snort, "There is still more time left in the day, so let's see what I have for another mission for you, Team 7." The old man shuffled through several scrolls, pulling up one that was marked 'D-Rank'. He cleared his throat. "We have a choice for you this time. The missions available are cleaning the bathhouse, weeding the…"

She cut him off abruptly with a loud, "No!" She could see the twitch in Iruka's face starting. She continued on in a more normal tone, "No. Absolutely not. Those missions are all a waste of our time." She shared a slightly amused look with the old man as Iruka jumped up and started ranting about mission ranking and ninja skill levels. She listened with a bored expression through to the end, where Iruka proclaimed that she needed to respect the Hokage and accept D-rank missions. And then she looked at him and said, "Why? What does a D-rank mission do for me? How does it help me be a better shinobi?" Her teammates were looking more and more alarmed by the way she was talking back to Sarutobi. She couldn't help it though…there was no way she was continuing on this endless parade of pointless tasks!

She took a deep breath, about to launch into a tirade of her own, when the old man interrupted her hastily. "Well, how about we give your team a C-rank mission then, Naruto? Yes, I have a suitable C-rank mission here that your team can take. It's an escort mission!" The old man nodded to the chuunin at the door to bring in the client. The chuunin opened the door and gestured in a disreputable and somewhat drunk looking man. "This is Tazuna, an important bridge builder from Wave country. He has hired us to escort him back to his home because there have been reports of bandits between here and there."

As they all turned to look at the bridge builder, he was already looking them over and obviously finding them wanting. He looked over at the Hokage and complained loudly, "These kids are gonna be my escort? Are you sure they're even ninja? Look at that short one!" Tazuna pointed at Naruto, and her eye started twitching in annoyance. "He looks like he'll be useless!" Her teammates had to hold her back as she lunged at the client.

Kakashi patted her head as he replied to the older man's complaint. "My team is all full ninja, and I am of jounin rank. We're all well able to complete a simple C-ranked escort mission." He turned to his team. "We'll be leaving in two hours. Gather your equipment and meet by the front gate."

She yanked herself away from Sasuke and Sakura, muttering as she stomped to the door. As she heard the elderly Hokage tell Kakashi that he wanted to see him before they left she swung around, pointing at the old man accusingly. "Don't think that giving us a good mission is going to get you out of hearing what I think about D-rank missions! You and I are going to have a _talk_ when I get back, old man!" And with that parting announcement she yanked the door open and stomped off to go pack.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It was a little over an hour later that the silver-haired jounin found himself sitting in the Hokage's private office, staring across the desk at the old man. "So, what did you want to see me about, Hokage-sama? I'd apologize for Naruto's outburst earlier, but he was right."

Sarutobi looked at his successor's former student speculatively. "You never did tell me what you thought about your team, Kakashi. I was surprised when you passed them. Tell me, what do you think, now that you've had some time to work with them?"

The jounin was a little startled by the other man's line of questioning, but answered smoothly, "I think they have a lot of potential, just as you said." He frowned thoughtfully…not that Sarutobi could see it. "I think that Uchiha Sasuke is going to bear some careful watching. The idea of revenge against his brother has been allowed to fester into an all-consuming obsession that can't be allowed to continue. I think that if it weren't for the developing bonds with his teammates, he would be completely unstable at this point, but the other two are helping to keep him grounded. But those bonds are still developing at a much slower rate than I would like to see. Maybe some time outside the village will help." He sighed. "Haruno Sakura is one of the most intelligent kunoichi I've ever seen. I think that if I can get her to grow out of her infatuation with Sasuke, she'll be a brilliant ninja. I'd like to do some work on her chakra reserves while we're out. She's showing an early aptitude for genjutsu that I'd like to encourage, but without the competition of other girls for Sasuke's attention she doesn't apply herself as hard as she could sometimes. We'll see what happens. And as for Uzumaki Naruto…" He gave the old man a rueful expression. "…that one is going to be hard to keep up with. Despite his marks at the Academy and his goofy behavior, he's shown some surprising insights and a rudimentary grasp of tactics during training. If I can get him to settle down long enough, I'm going to show him how to play shogi while we're in Wave. He's no Nara Shikamaru, but I'm positive he'll be quite an asset to the village, once he settles down and gets some proper instruction." He frowned again. "But I get the feeling that he's hiding something, not just from the two others but from me. Do you have any idea what that might be, Hokage-sama?"

The old man looked serene as he answered blandly, "If Naruto is hiding something from you, I have the utmost confidence that, as both a jounin and his sensei, you'll find out what it is eventually, Kakashi. Now, I have something for you to include in your packs." Sarutobi picked up a small black nylon bag, zipped at the top, and placed it in front of Kakashi.

The jounin picked it up and opened it, surprised to discover feminine products inside. He looked up at the old man with a confused look in his eye. "Hokage-sama…why would I need these? Wouldn't Sakura be carrying some for herself? Is she even old enough for these?"

The old man raised an eyebrow. "She is certainly old enough, though she may not realize it herself. And it is the duty of every jounin-sensei to be prepared for the unexpected. Your students are still young, and prone to silly omissions when packing their gear. Therefore, you must be prepared. I have given a similar package to every jounin-sensei…though the only one that seemed to understand was Kurenai, for which I give her full marks for being quick on the uptake. If you don't feel comfortable undertaking whatever education the parents of the children have missed, that's just too bad. They are full ninja now, and have the need to know these things now more than ever." Sarutobi chuckled ruthlessly at the horrified expression on Kakashi's face. "Perhaps, if you ask Kurenai nicely when you get back, she would consent to instructing your female student for you. In any case, don't forget to add it to your pack. Dismissed."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

They actually weren't waiting as long as Naruto had feared they would be for Kakashi. Fifteen minutes after the two hour mark he showed up, but by that time old man Tazuna was already grumbling. Sasuke had to hold her back on several occasions after the bridge builder made a less than tactful remark. Sakura had tried, but she just didn't have the physical strength to hold Naruto back. That seemed to make the kunoichi very thoughtful…in fact, she'd actually stopped staring at Sasuke in that annoying fangirl way, and was watching Naruto speculatively every time Sasuke had to hold the orange-clad ninja back.

Kakashi showed up with a puff of smoke behind them, continuing past them with his little orange book already in hand. He seemed a little disturbed about something, but quickly walked past them with a nod. "We're leaving now. We still have plenty of travel time before dark."

Naruto's bad mood instantly dissipated, and she practically bounced along the road after Kakashi, watching everything around her avidly. She caught Sakura looking at her strangely. "What? I've never been out of the village before! This is so exciting!"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She wasn't so excited hours later. It was about an hour to sunset, and the scenery hadn't changed one bit. She was getting…bored. Very bored. The old bridge builder had been complaining constantly, when he wasn't drinking, for the entire walk. Then the glint of water in the middle of the roadway caught her attention. She frowned…she hadn't seen water the entire time they'd been walking, and it definitely didn't look like it had been raining. Why was there just a random puddle there…

The group was almost passed the puddle when chains suddenly shot out of it, wrapping around Kakashi and ripping him apart in a spray of gore. The three genin were shocked for a moment as two ninja jumped out of the puddle, but Naruto and Sasuke recovered first. Sasuke shoved Sakura in front of Tazuna, with an order to guard him, as Naruto pulled a kunai from her thigh holster and rushed the closer of the two.

With a clash of metal on metal, the unfamiliar ninja blocked her attack with his kunai. She could see Sasuke from the corner of her eye, meeting the second ninja with a vicious kick to the chest, but her attention was shortly taken by the enemy in front of her. Metal met metal as several blows and slashes were exchanged, but he obviously wasn't used to fighting someone so much shorter than he was. His greater experience was countered by her lack of height, and for once she was thanking all the gods that she was so short. His attention was so much focused on her upper body, which was lower than he was used to watching, that he was caught off guard when she suddenly parried one of his slashes with her bare left hand. She used the chance to step in under his reach and stomp on his instep as hard as she could, satisfied by the loud crunch and the howl of pain this produced, and then she quickly followed up her momentary advantage by punching him full in the face with her right fist, kunai still in her grip and every ounce of her muscle and weight behind it. She was pleased when he went down without another sound.

She quickly looked around for the other ninja, but was mildly pleased to see that Sasuke had made equally short work of his own opponent, and was staring at her strangely. She didn't have time to ask what the problem was though, because there was the sudden sound of applause behind them. They turned quickly, still on their guard, to find Kakashi standing with Tazuna and Sakura. "Very nice boys. Naruto, we're going to need to take a look at your hands though."

Still caught up in the moment and the adrenaline rush, she looked down at her hands in surprise. Her left hand was bleeding sluggishly from a slash across her palm, which was starting to burn strangely, and the fingers of her right were starting to throb. She carefully uncurled her fingers from around the kunai handle, noting with a certain detachment that they were starting to swell a little. She hadn't really thought about what she was doing when she punched the guy with the kunai still in her hand, but she was going to have to remember in the future that it wasn't a terribly good idea. The rush from the short fight was wearing off far too quickly, but she was still a little surprised when a few steps toward Kakashi had her swaying. She was no where even close to him when she stumbled, suddenly finding Sasuke's hands steadying her. He was glaring at her for no reason she could think of, and she resented it terribly when he growled, "What's the matter, dead last? Can't handle a little scratch?"

The jounin was there at that point, examining the wound and kunai that caused it. After a long moment he looked up into her eyes. "It's poisoned. We're going to have to go back before it spreads."

Her protest rose quickly. "No! We're barely a day out of Konoha, we can't go back!" She watched the grim look in the jounin's eyes and growled softly, taking the kunai that was still in her injured right hand and quickly stabbing it clear through the slashed hand before either Sasuke or Kakashi could stop her. She gritted her teeth and ground out in a determined tone, "There. Now it can bleed out. Let's get going."

The pain was shooting up her left arm now, but she stared Kakashi down before he finally conceded reluctantly, "That will work. Sakura, get the bandages from the front pocket of my pack. We'll wrap Naruto's hand and continue. We're going to want to be as far as we can get from this scene when we stop for the night."

She was panting softly, leaning against Sasuke as she pulled the kunai out of her hand and watched her own blood drip and pool on the ground. The strange burning was receding though, which had to be a good sign. She felt the raven adjust his grip on her and mutter, "You're such a moron," into her ear, too softly for the others to hear. The tone was one of grudging respect though, so she let it pass without comment. It didn't take Kakashi long to bandage the wound, at which point she pushed away from Sasuke. She really wasn't feeling any better, but she'd be damned if she was going to seem so weak that she needed help making it until they stopped for the night. She felt slightly ill at the blood, now that the adrenaline was gone, but she was chalking that up to the fact that this was her first true fight.

The jounin also took a look at her swelling right hand, proclaiming her fingers, "Probably not broken," after a moment, with a grumbled comment that he was going to have to teach her how to punch properly. Then he turned to pin Tazuna with a frighteningly angry look. "You and I are going to have a talk at camp. I don't know why this is classed as a C-rank mission, but you're going to tell me…or we're going to go back to Konoha." Tazuna had the grace to look embarrassed and a little upset by it all, agreeing quickly enough.

And Naruto pretended the entire way to camp that she didn't see her teammates alternately hovering around or beside her. After all, she didn't want to further injure either of her hands by punching Sasuke's overly pretty face.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She was laying in her bedroll well after dark that evening, curled up by the fire. She didn't want to miss Kakashi's conversation with Tazuna any more than the other two genin did, but the jounin had insisted that she needed rest. So, after a loud and nearly violent argument…they'd compromised. She would get to be present for the conversation as long as she remained horizontal and in her bedroll. She'd had to flatly threaten to castrate Kakashi when he'd offered to have either himself or Sasuke help her change into clean clothing and relieve herself. She'd snapped that she wasn't _that_ injured, and it would be a cold day in hell when she'd let anyone help her with those tasks. She was a little panicked at the thought that he might insist, but he'd given in…probably thought that she didn't want to deal with the blow to her 'manly pride'. Yeah, right…

She had to admit that her little trip into the woods to clean up and change had exhausted her though, so she was content to stare drowsily and quietly into the fire while she listened to Kakashi and Tazuna. She was almost too sleepily to eat the bowl of rice that Sakura handed her.

When dinner was finished, Kakashi finally cleared his throat and got to the topic of the evening. "Tazuna-san, you're going to tell us what this is all about now. Those were no mere bandits that attacked us, and one of my students was seriously injured in the encounter. So, either you tell us what's really going on…or we go back to Konoha and inform Hokage-sama that you mislead us about the rank of this mission."

Tazuna paled, shifting uncomfortably and glancing briefly at Naruto. He sighed and then started explaining. "Wave used to be a beautiful country, prosperous and happy. Our people wanted for nothing, and we had a thriving trade with the mainland that supplied us with all the things we couldn't make ourselves. But that was before the shipping lanes were taken over by the shipping magnate Gatou. He came in, offering us greater profit and more wealth than ever before, slowly buying out every shipping company in our country. Little did we know that some of them he was getting by blackmail or by murder, picking off people who opposed him until no one did or could." The older man stared down at his hands in his lap bleakly. "Once he had control of every shipping company in the country, he started to impose greater and greater fees on trades going to the mainland. And there was nothing we could do, since his was the only company to go to. Our people started to protest…and he put down any rebellions ruthlessly. The prosperity and the hope of my country dried up and blew away. So, I'm building a bridge to change all of that. With this bridge, our people won't be dependent on Gatou's company for trade to the mainland anymore. We can rebuild everything we're lost. So, of course he wants to stop something that threatens his monopoly."

The jounin gave him a measuring look. "I've heard about Gatou. The man hires swordsmen, missing-nin and ninja from some of the smaller villages to back his empire. Those two that we fought back there were probably a low chuunin rank." That certainly got the genins' attention…Naruto couldn't help wondering what the hell the old bridge builder had gotten them into. "Those probably weren't the strongest he's got, so why did you only hire a C-ranked escort? This mission is easily A-rank. There's no way I can expect my students to handle this."

Tazuna shrugged helplessly. "We couldn't afford anything else…our people are poor after the way Gatou's been keeping a strangle hold on us…"

Kakashi sighed and turned to his students. "Well, what do you three think? Should we continue on with this? There's no way that the next ninja we encounter will be as low ranked as the two you defeated back there."

Naruto was the first to speak up. "We can't just abandon the mission, Kaka-sensei." She watched the others through sleepy eyes as her teammates worked out their answers themselves.

Sakura nodded in agreement. "It would look really bad for the village if we abandoned the mission, even if we are outclassed."

Sasuke nodded curtly and added, "That's why you're with us after all, isn't it?" He shrugged. "We handled the fight back there well. I'm sure that with you here this won't be the problem it would be if it were just the three of us."

The jounin shook his head and turned back to Tazuna. "Well, there's your answer. You're lucky that they know their duty already, or we'd be heading back, despite the loss of face for the village." He waved at his students. "You three go get some sleep; Tazuna and I are just going to discuss the daily routine so that I can plan watches. Sasuke, you'll be sharing a tent with Naruto, for tonight at least. I want someone close in case those wounds turn out to be more serious than he's willing to tell us." She glared at Kakashi, but kept her opinion to herself as she gathered up her bedroll and stumbled off to the tent. She pointedly ignored Sasuke until she finally dozed.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

They were ending their second full day of travel at the coast. Tazuna had asked that they stop at the coast, and leave the remainder of the journey until the next day. Apparently, he wanted to take advantage of the early morning fog to cross the water into Wave, hiding them from any eyes that might be watching the island's coast. Kakashi agreed that it was a good idea, so they'd all set up camp in a small clearing in the woods just off of the beach.

It was to her everlasting annoyance that Kakashi still had Sasuke watching her, despite the fact that her right hand was already fully healed, and her left was well on the way to it. The raven followed her around the little camp, giving her strange, unreadable looks and looking over her shoulder at everything she did. It had driven her to such distraction that she hadn't even indulged in her normal stream of happy chatter all day.

She finally settled into her bedroll as the sunset, figuring that it was both a better way of ignoring Sasuke, and a way of making sure she'd be fully awake for the final push to Tazuna's village. She'd been a little uncomfortable at first, with the way her guts felt kind of tight, but they'd been like that all day. She was sure it was just a combination of nervousness at the danger that was waiting for them across the water and her annoyance at Kakashi and Sasuke's stupidity. If they treated _her_ like this, she shuddered to think what the team was going to go through the first time Sakura got injured.

It was hours later when she awoke, all at once and tense, for reasons that it took her a moment to identify. Blood…she smelled blood. From the strength of the smell, it had to be on her somewhere. Her first thought was her hand…but quiet investigation with her fingers found the bandage wrapping her hand dry, and the pain was minimal. She frowned and sat up carefully, unzipping her bedroll slowly so as not to wake her sleeping teammate. Her eyes widened slightly as the smell only got stronger with the sleeping bag open. Had she gotten injured and hadn't noticed? How could she possibly have lost this much blood without noticing? She'd always healed quickly…it would have to be a pretty major problem for her to have lost the amount of blood that was soaked into her sleeping bag.

Against her well ingrained instinct to keep her problems to herself, she decided she'd have to tell Kakashi. She crept out of the tent, taking the sleeping bag with her and praying that Sasuke didn't wake. She gathered the sleeping bag up in a ball and dashed over to Kakashi's tent, noting with alarm that her pants were just as bloodstained as the sleeping bag. She slipped into the jounin's tent and started shaking the masked man urgently. Odd how the man even slept with the mask on. He woke immediately, though his single eye still had that lazy look. "Naruto? What's wrong? Where's Sasuke?"

She gave him a sour look. "I didn't bother waking him…I'm perfectly capable of walking. And _this_ is the problem!" There was a slightly hysterical edge to her quiet tone as she gestured at her pants, and then dumped her sleeping bag in his lap.

He looked at the sleeping bag, and then at the position of the bloodstain on her pants oddly. Then he said slowly, "Naruto, how did you manage to get hurt in that particular spot? This is a lot of blood…"

Well, his confirmation of her suspicion that it was an awful lot of blood certainly didn't help her state of mind any, and it was all she could do to keep from wailing her answer. "I don't know! Am I dying, Kaka-sensei?" She grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him. "What if I'm dying? I'm too young to die this way!"

He grabbed her hands, trying to stem her panic before her voice got any louder and woke the whole camp. "You're not dying! Let me see the injury, Naruto!"

The suggestion hit her like a bucket of cold water, suddenly driving out the hysteria as her defense mechanisms kicked in. "No! I mean, I guess I'm just overreacting...it's nothing serious. Really, sensei!" She laughed and scratched the back of her head nervously while she regarded the jounin warily, about ready to bolt.

Kakashi wasn't a jounin for nothing though…he was perfectly capable of putting all the clues presented together into a whole. The Hokage had given him the biggest needed clue, after all…when presented with her defensive attitude at this sudden development, it just all clicked into place. His eye widened, loosing all trace of his previous lazy disposition, and he stared at her in disbelief. "You're a girl, aren't you?"

She groaned softly and collapsed into a cross-legged position beside Kakashi's bed, her head in her hands. "Am I that obvious sensei?"

He shook his head and started rooting around in his pack. "No, you're not. In fact, if it weren't for this…I probably wouldn't have guessed for a long, long time." He pulled out a small black pouch in triumph. "And I'd wondered why Sandaime-sama gave me these. Makes sense now…I don't think he thought we'd need them so soon though."

He handed her the pack and watched as she looked through it, utterly bewildered by the contents, muttering about meddling old men. She looked up at him. "So…I'm not dying then?"

He gave her a little smiley look and assured her, "No, you're not dying. This is perfectly normal for a girl your age, or so I've been told. Use the contents of that to capture the blood flow, preventing messes like the one we've got now. This will happen every month, for several days."

She just about choked at that. "Every month! You're kidding! What the hell…" She grumbled as she looked at the things in the pack. "There had better be instructions in here. There's no way I'm letting a pervert like you help me out with this."

He chuckled. "Well, you could always ask Sakura, little Naruto-chan."

She graced him with an icy glare, and said as coldly as Sasuke had ever managed, "Call me that again, and I'll beat you into the ground Kaka-sensei. And we're not telling Sakura…or Sasuke. I refuse to be treated any differently. I've worked hard to make sure I'm not treated in the same stupid way the kunoichi are…I'm not going to let that change now." She sighed softly, much calmer now that she knew she wasn't dying. "I suppose I should go wash my stuff before it stains."

Kakashi frowned at her. "You know, Naruto isn't a girl's name…what's your real name?"

She snorted softly. "Something that you don't need to know…yet. I wouldn't answer to it anymore anyway…I've been Naruto for too long to really change, now. Maybe when you've proved you're not gonna spill my secret I'll tell you…but that's not tonight." She left the tent, taking the pack and her sleeping bag with her and leaving Kakashi to think that one over.

She never even noticed the shadow in a shadow just behind Kakashi's tent as she left to go wash her things in the nearby stream. But the shadow was back in his proper place in their tent by the time she got back.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The next day was hardly comfortable for her, but she managed to sit still during the quiet morning boat ride across the channel to the main island of Wave. Sasuke had been acting strangely all morning, but since that involved him avoiding her as much as possible, she let it go without comment.

When they finally reached the island the boat landed them in a small, shabby looking village. They didn't get much time to sight see as Tazuna rushed them out of it and onto the little coastal road out of town. He seemed relieved when they made it out into the countryside without incident. "I wanted to be sure that Gatou's men didn't spot you while we were in town. My home is a few miles south of here. We should be able to make it in time for lunch."

They hurried along with Naruto in the lead, who was trying hard to feel her normal, sociable self, asking Tazuna questions about his home, his family and his village. After a while, Sakura joined her in the lead, leaving Sasuke trailing behind them being a broody ass, and Tazuna talking with Kakashi. The kunoichi kept pace with her as she asked softly, "Are you feeling okay, Naruto? You look a little pale…"

Naruto gave her a sly glance. "Why, Sakura, are you actually worried about me? Don't fear! I'm feeling great!" She pumped her fist in the air in a show of feeling, ducking quickly when Sakura took a swat at the back of her head.

"I should have known better than to worry about you. You're too thick headed to come to any real harm!" The girl tossed her pink hair and dropped back to join Kakashi and the bridge builder.

It was a few minutes later that she was suddenly aware of the presence shadowing them from the bushes to one side of the road. She wasn't entirely sure _how_ she knew someone was there. Maybe it was the scent, or just a glimpse of _something_ out of place, but she was sure there was someone. She tensed, pulling a kunai suddenly and throwing it quickly at the presence. Her team gaped behind her. "Naruto, what are you doing!" There was a definite annoyed edge to Sakura's tone as Kakashi went to investigate.

Naruto immediately protested, "There was someone there!" She stomped over to the bushes behind their sensei with the others following closely behind. She looked on in shock as she processed the sight of the rabbit. Sakura was screeching about her nearly killing the rabbit, and Kakashi was muttering something. She was aware of Sasuke at her side as the implications of the rabbit hit her, and she breathed out softly, "The rabbit…it's…"

"…white." Sasuke finish grimly, dragging her down with him as Kakashi was suddenly roaring for them all to duck. An enormous sword whistled through the air, just missing Sakura and Tazuna as the kunoichi's reflexes kicked in, just barely in time. The sword hit a tree, bladed edge first, digging nearly half way through the trunk.

As they all got up, there was suddenly a ninja standing on the hilt of the sword with his back to them. He was looking over his shoulder at them, and Sasuke shot her the strangest glare as she muttered about asshole shinobi trying to look cool. As they all brushed themselves off, Kakashi looked up at their attacker and said calmly, "Well, if it isn't Momochi Zabuza…missing nin and former member of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure no Sato."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...which is probably a good thing. Can you imagine the strangeness if I did?

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Six**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Momochi Zabuza chuckled softly at the silver-haired jounin. "The infamous Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi of Konohagakure no Sato, knows me. I'm honored. You know what I'm here for, Hatake-san."

She was already moving before Kakashi's hand-signal came to guard Tazuna, dragging a resentful Sasuke along with her grimly as she positioned herself and her two teammates around the bridge builder. She was thankful then that Tazuna himself was pretty well dead to the feeling of killer intent that exploded between the two, amply illustrating the massive differences between the three genin and the two jounin. Sakura went weak in the knees, and she actually had to catch Sasuke's hand as he started to turn his kunai on himself. She hissed softly, "Focus, you two! Focus on the moment and the mission; let it flow around you without touching you. We have a job to do here!"

She ignored the surprised looks, but was pleased when the other two made the attempt to pull themselves together. She focused on Zabuza, ignoring the killer intent that threatened to overwhelm the others with the ease of long practice. She cursed silently as she realized she'd missed some of the exchange between Kakashi and the Mist nin. Zabuza leapt away from the tree, taking the massive sword with him and sheathing it smoothly as he landed on the surface of the water. The missing nin turned quickly and took his pose, the soft announcement of, "Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu," echoing across the water as the thick mist rose with stunning speed, obscuring anything not within immediate arm's reach within seconds.

She could practically taste the tense nervousness coming from her teammates as she listened carefully to Kakashi. "He's going to try to eliminate me first." The masked man reached up to pull up the side of his forehead protector that was covering his left eye. "I want you three to stay here, and listen to Naruto. Guard Tazuna." She was a little startled by the instructions, but the other two were still too shaken to protest.

Zabuza's laughter drifted over the water. "You're revealing your Sharingan for this, Hatake-san? Again, I'm honored…" She sensed Sasuke's surprise as she watched Kakashi rush out of view onto the water, but she figured that it was going to have to be a question for later. Undoubtedly, she'd be grilled later about her ability to ignore the killer intent of the two jounin, so fair was fair. She heard Zabuza call out, "Can you really protect what you can't see, Hatake-san?"

She felt the sudden sensation of warmth at her back, turning with a gasp. She wasn't fast enough though…before she'd gotten turned completely, the missing nin already had his enormous sword at the top of its deadly arc, whistling down fast on the defenseless bridge builder. There was a sudden clash of metal, coming from two different spots…the closest point was above her as Zabuza's sword met Kakashi's kunai, leaving him an open target to the kunai she planted hard into his ribs, jamming it in and up with a grunt of effort. She knew she'd have never gotten an opportunity like that on her own, but she wasn't against using chances that others presented her. She was startled as the resistance to her thrust dissolved, the body flowing into a puddle.

There were shouts out on the water, and the roar of various jutsu going off, but they had no time for that as another Zabuza came rushing out of the mist, dispersing Kakashi's clone as she shoved Tazuna back. Cursing fluently with every bit of colorful language she'd ever heard, she thought hard. There was absolutely no way they were defeating even a _clone_ of this guy without some coordination. She roared, "Sakura, back off with Tazuna! Sasuke, engage him!" She formed her hand-seal, a dozen clones bursting out of her and scattering quickly with her plan in mind. She took a moment to make sure that Sakura obeyed, noting with satisfaction that the girl backed off to the tree line without hesitation, despite her fear. Sasuke had immediately launched into a flurry of taijutsu; not good enough to land a solid hit, but more than enough to take the clone's attention away from the way her clones were weaving in and out around him and the trees in an apparently random pattern. She pulled her coil of wire from her pouch and joined them, tying one end off on the closest tree and dashing around the clone and around another tree with her clones, and then suddenly called out, "Bastard, fireball!"

She and her clones all heaved on the wires with all their strength, pulling them tight around the Zabuza clone with the trees as leverage. She knew they'd only have a split second before the clone snapped the wires entangling him, so she was relieved when she heard Sasuke call out, "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!", turning in time to watch the clone disperse in a cloud of steam as a vast fireball engulfed it. She dropped her wire as she heard Sakura celebrating, sprinting for the edge of the water with Sasuke hard on her heels. She growled at him, "We need a way to help Kaka-sensei, bastard, and it's your turn to think…the same trick isn't gonna work."

They could hear the clash of metal out on the water as they reached the edge, and Sasuke growled back, "How can we help him if we can't even see them, dead last? You and I can't walk on the water."

Just as she opened her mouth to reply, two voices called out in unison, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!" and the mist dispersed suddenly as two enormous water dragons roared into existence out on the water, battling for dominance over the heads of the two jounin that had summoned them.

Her eyes widened slightly as the sudden disappearance of the fog revealed a third clone on the water, his sword already arcing in an upward sweep towards her. She pushed Sasuke as she tried to back out of the way of the deadly steel; but the shining blade clipped her from her left hip all the way to her right shoulder in an explosion of agony, sending her flying back into the trunk of a tree hard enough to stun her. She was barely aware of two male voices crying her name as she slid to the ground against the tree in a daze. Seconds stretched into eternity as she was suddenly aware of too many little things…the strange feeling of the parted skin of her torso, the blood that was quickly soaking into her ruined clothing in a sticky mess, the throb of her head where it had impacted the tree. She could almost feel the life slipping from her with the fascinating crimson stain that was spreading, making her feel cold somehow…

The clangs and grunts in front of her dimmed into the background as a voice suddenly filled her mind, an ominous growl that was absolutely impossible to ignore. _'No. I refuse to die because of your stupidity…I refuse to be condemned to your mortal fate!'_ Suddenly fire sparked in her core, a thread of dark power that exploded into an inferno, burning along her veins and driving a helpless cry of pain and pleasure from her as it filled her. It was frightening and intoxicating all in the same breath, and it drove the pain of her wounds away in the moment of ignition. She opened her eyes to find the world was almost painfully sharp, bright, and colored in hundreds of shades she'd never imagined existed. Every movement, even motes of dust, was visible to her; it seemed that the clone, which was now fighting Sasuke, was slower than before. She puzzled for a moment over the fact that Sasuke seemed faster than before…almost as fast as the clone, though certainly not as fast as the jounin who were still out on the water.

She pushed herself up and away from the tree, the world seeming to grind to a halt for a split second as she moved toward Sasuke and the clone with chakra enhanced speed, not even noticing the way her mere touch ripped a hand size chunk of the tree apart. She didn't take note of the fact that the two jounin on the water stopped dead to watch her, or the fact that she was radiating an aura of red chakra like a small sun as she started moving. She pulled a kunai from her pouch as she moved to flank the clone, trapping him in between herself and Sasuke. She lashed out with her right foot at the clone's knee, not all that surprised when his blade came around to block her, but between her current speed and whatever had happened to Sasuke they were able to overwhelm the clone with a flurry of taijutsu, Sasuke's kunai finally taking it across the throat and dispelling it seconds from when she rejoined the fight.

She looked into Sasuke's eyes, startled to see red staring back at her…but he seemed equally startled by whatever he saw in her. They turned in unison to the jounin on the lake, who were still staring at them as they panted from the effort of their interrupted battle…and then watched as Zabuza suddenly spouted several senbon from the neck, and was caught by a young, masked boy with long bangs as he fell into the water. The boy bowed to Kakashi. "I've been after this one for a long time, and it's thanks to you that I finally had the chance to get him. I'll be taking the body to dispose of, now. Thank you."

Kakashi sighed, checking Zabuza's pulse himself. "You're a hunter-nin from Kirigakure? Thank you for finishing him. I'll be taking my students and continuing on now." They both nodded, and then the boy disappeared with the body as the silver-haired jounin walked wearily to shore. The fire in her veins was starting to recede, dulling the world and leaving her utterly exhausted and empty with its absence. The jounin looked both her and Sasuke over as Sakura and Tazuna approached from the trees. "We need to continue on…" The jounin managed a few, swaying steps before falling flat on his face. If it had been any other time she might have found it funny, but it was all she could do to stand there apathetically as Sakura freaked out and fussed over their sensei. Tazuna finally volunteered to carry him, and the group started out…but moments later stopped as they realized that she was just standing there, staring dully. Her two remaining teammates approached her with worried expressions, but she didn't have time to explain as a warm, welcoming darkness engulfed her with wonderful oblivion.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She had no clue where she was when she woke, and couldn't have said how long she was out. It was dark, and smelled strongly of the sea and fish. The bed was soft, and she was clean. Her chest was wrapped in fresh bandages, but didn't hurt as much as it should considering that the damned clone must have just about split her in two. She frowned slightly as she identified a strange weight on her chest. Her questing hands identified it as an arm…now, who the hell would have an arm draped over her? And then it hit her…she was clean. Clean! And wearing fresh pajama bottoms! So…someone had to have undressed and cleaned her!

Her mind had never worked well upon waking, but the gears were grinding now…it was suddenly imperative that she know whose arm was draped over her chest. Whoever the person was, they weren't actually laying on the futon with her…it was too dark to see much until her eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight from the open window, so she started following the arm with her fingers. She followed it up to the shoulder, catching the feeling of silky hair with something close to relief…Sakura, then. Her heart leapt into her throat as a voice suddenly growled softly, "Having fun with my hair, dead last?"

She squeaked, pushing him off her abruptly. "What the hell, bastard! Why are _you_ in here? Where's Sakura?" She struggled to sit up, staring at Sasuke.

He pushed her back down with a grunt. "Wake the whole house, why don't you? Sakura's with Kakashi. I'm in here…so that you can continue to keep your damned secret from her." His face was expressionless, and his tone about as bland as possible. He might as well have been talking about the weather for all it was reflected in his tone.

Her eyes went wide, but she spoke in a quiet tone. "W-What? My…how…" Though she had always swum topless as a boy, and could because of her lack of feminine development, she suddenly felt entirely too naked now that her secret was exposed. She dragged the blanket up to cover her bandage wrapped torso. "Wait, you didn't clean me, did you?"

The raven just about choked, his sudden blush apparent, even in the pale moonlight. He turned his face away from her. "No! No, I asked Tsunami to clean you…I had to tell someone, and it seemed better to tell her than Sakura."

She sat quickly this time, reaching out and to drag him by the shirt collar closer to her. "Who the hell…oh. Wait, Tazuna's daughter, right?" She frowned thoughtfully as Sasuke yanked his collar out of her hand and glared at her, and then gave him a sheepish grin as she scratched the back of her head. "Well, guess you did good then, bastard. How's Kaka-sensei? What did Sakura think of everything? How long was I out?"

He pushed her back down onto the futon with another glare and spat, "I didn't spend the last two days watching you sleep just to have you knock yourself out again, idiot."

He settled cross-legged beside the futon as she gave him a pout and replied, "I heal fast, and that only answers one of my questions. Spill it."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Kakashi is fine; it's just chakra exhaustion from overusing his Sharingan. And Sakura didn't question me when I told her that while Tsunami, as an adult, was fine to tend you, she wasn't. She's been keeping an eye on Kakashi."

She nodded, satisfied. "That's great! So, how long have you known? And why are you helping me keep it?" She raised an eyebrow, her expression completely serious for a change.

Sasuke shrugged a little. "Since you told Kakashi." He smirked as he watched her gape for a moment.

She blurted, "How? You were sleeping when I got up! And when I got back!" She was turning a bright red. "Hey, is that why you were avoiding me?" She grinned, chuckling wickedly. "Couldn't stand the thought that a mere girl is as good as you?"

The raven snorted and replied contemptuously, "Yes, you're just as good as me, that's why your marks were the lowest in the class…even Sakura did better than you at the Academy."

It was Naruto's turn to smirk, "Marks aren't everything, bastard. I thought the little exercise with the clones proved that. Why do you think Kaka-sensei left _me_ in charge and not _you_?"

Sasuke grinned down at her, an expression that was so rare it almost caught her breath. "Because our sensei is a head case?"

She started laughing, wrapping her arms around herself as this caused ripples of pain from her chest and gasped, "Was that a joke? You feel okay, asshole?"

He started glaring again at the nickname, which just caused her to laugh harder. He grumbled, "Well, I'm glad I could entertain you."

It took her several minutes, and several attempts, to finally get control of herself. She found she couldn't look at him without it touching off the semi-hysterical laughter again…it had hit her how close she had come to dying back there and her moods weren't exactly stable at the moment with the odd hormonal shifts she was experiencing. After several minutes of silence, she finally spoke up softly while staring out the window. "So…what do you really think? Of me being a girl, I mean…"

Another minute of silence passed, and she could hear Sasuke shift uncomfortably before answering. "I…don't know. At first, I was shocked. You're nothing like the kunoichi. Kakashi was right…if it weren't for that incident it's unlikely anyone would have guessed for a long time." There was another pause, and she waited patiently for the raven to gather his thoughts. This was more than she'd ever heard him speak in one go, but for some reason things seemed more comfortable between them, rather than less. He finally continued on, "At first I thought I was going to have to protect you, the way we do Sakura. I thought that first fight was all luck. I thought…you were another fangirl in disguise." He chuckled softly as she shuddered at that thought, and said wryly, "You would think I would have known better, but it did occur to me. But then Zabuza showed up, and I forgot all about it until after that fight." He growled softly. "As much as I hate to admit it, we worked well together."

She finally turned her head and gave him a foxy grin. "We did, didn't we? You know, I think it's time we called a truce…competition is all well and good, but I think we could both use a friend."

She knew the moment she said it that it was the wrong thing to say, and she could almost see the mental walls coming back up, shutting the emotion out. She couldn't stand to see him shut himself away again though…she knew all too well what it meant to be alone, and refused to let this boy that she was coming to respect so much do this to himself. She sat up again, grabbing his closer hand in both of hers to drag it, and him, in close. "Don't you dare, Uchiha. Don't you dare shut me out after all this shit! I refuse to let you be alone."

The boy tugged at her grip on his hand and snarled, "What do you know about being alone, Uzumaki?"

Wonderful, she'd managed to antagonize him thoroughly within seconds...yay her! She grabbed his collar again and hissed, "Look at me, Uchiha. Look at me!" He turned his head reluctantly when it was clear she wasn't going to let him go without a fight, and found his face mere inches from hers, her sapphire eyes intense. "I've been alone a long, long time, Sasuke. So many people around us, but none of them really touch us…we're so alike it's frightening, you know. I'm the monster and you're the prodigy…but in the end it amounts to the same thing." He looked startled as she referred to herself as a 'monster', but she shook her head. "Don't. That's a discussion for another time…" She tilted her head and grinned a little. "Tell you what…I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. But you can't shut me out, Sasuke. And I won't shut you out either."

His eyes narrowed as he thought about it for a moment…and then nodded slowly. "On one condition, dead last."

She smirked smugly, figuring her victory over the Uchiha was a forgone conclusion. "Name it, bastard!"

He pried her fingers from his shirt collar and smirked back at her. "You tell me your name." She opened her mouth to give him a cocky reply that her name was Naruto, but his hand came up to place a finger over her lips. "Your real name."

She glared at him for a moment, trying to figure a way out of it as she shoved his hand away. "Why? You're never going to be able to use it, bastard…"

He sat back as he reclaimed the hand she was holding and crossing his arms. "Not if anyone else is around I won't. But I want to know…it's only fair, since I'm keeping your damned secret for you."

She watched him, weighing her options. He was right…and if she didn't tell him, she lost the bargain to keep him from shutting her out. He waited patiently as she thought about it. She finally sighed. "Fine. Hotaru…Uzumaki Hotaru. If you ever tell anyone, even Kaka-sensei, I'll beat you into a pink mist, got it?"

He nodded, satisfied, and then pushed her back down on the futon and said firmly, "Back to sleep."

She snorted softly. "If I am, you should. Get on here, bastard." She wiggled over to make room for him on the futon, as he was obviously supposed to have been watching her when she woke up under his arm. He looked for a moment like he was going to refuse, but she pointed at the futon and said dryly, "Either you make yourself comfortable or I wake everyone by punching you out and laying you there. Take your pick." She then curled up with her back to him, taking it as a given that he was going to obey. When she felt the warmth at her back she smiled sleepily and drifted off again.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She was greeted in the morning by Sakura's shriek of horror, and wondered sleepily what the fuss was. She wasn't at all awake, but she could still vaguely understand Sakura berating Sasuke for sleeping when poor Naruto (and she wondered fuzzily when she'd been promoted to 'poor' anything) was obviously injured and needed the space, and what if the chest wound was split and…the warmth at her back was abruptly yanked away, and she was turned onto her back roughly while the raven tried vainly to explain that Naruto herself had insisted he sleep. She batted feebly at the hands that were tugging at her bandages, grumbling in sleepy incoherence. The gasp from Sakura as the bandages were lifted finally woke her fully though. She looked up at Sakura in alarm. "What? Is it infected? Oh kami, I'm dying aren't I!" That last part came out in a wail, but she caught herself when she found Sasuke glaring at her sourly over Sakura's shoulder.

The kunoichi shook her head. "N-No…in fact, these bandages can come off…" She sounded puzzled and even Sasuke looked surprised as he pushed the girl aside a little to see for himself.

Naruto looked down at the rough looking scar that ran from shoulder to hip down her slender, muscular torso…it was an angry red, but a scar was all it was. She laughed nervously. "Oh…I've always healed fast." She sat up and let Sakura pull the bandages off, turning for inspection as instructed.

The green-eyed girl finally concluded slowly, "Well, you're healed up fine…I guess I'll leave you two and go check on Kaka-sensei. He woke up early, and he's eating right now. He wants to see us all when you two are dressed."

Naruto shooed her out with a grin and then stretched, wincing slightly as she tugged at scarred muscle. She was going to have to work on stretching that back out. She hitched her pants up with one hand as she reached down to dig through her pack for clothing. She just about jumped out of her skin when Sasuke, so silent that she'd almost forgotten he was there, suddenly said, "That's one of the things we're going to have to talk about, Hotaru…"

She frowned as she straightened. "Not here, Sasuke. Too many ears…and that goes for the name too. How do you know Sakura's not outside the door, making sure I'm not stealing more kisses from her precious 'Sasuke-kun'?" She gagged a little, and then grinned at the raven's shudder. "It'll be a million times worse if she hears you use that name, idiot. So keep it to yourself…now get out so I can change."

Black eyes narrowed at her, and he growled, "Why do I have to be the one to get out?"

She grabbed his clothes and tossed them at him with a smirk. "Because, Uchiha…I'm not going to ask why, but you reek. And I don't. Let's leave it at that." She just about collapsed laughing when the offended boy stalked off, attempting not to sulk.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura had managed to get Kakashi somewhat propped up by some pillows, so he was mostly able to look at them when they all settled into the room, sitting around his futon. "Well, we have a problem. Naruto, how are you feeling? We're going to have to start you all training immediately."

They all frowned at that, but it was Tazuna who spoke up from the doorway. "Why? That guy has to have been the strongest that Gatou had…what's there to worry about now?"

Kakashi sighed. "Well, I was too tired to think about it at the time, but something about that has been bothering me." He looked at the three genin. "What do you three know about hunter-nin?"

They all thought for a moment, with Naruto speaking up first. "They hunt missing nin, right?"

The jounin nodded and waited for the other two to add anything. Sakura's eyes finally widened. "Sensei, don't they normally get rid of the body on the spot?"

Again the jounin nodded. "The body of a ninja carries the secrets of the village, so hunter-nin always disposes of them on the spot to keep that special knowledge from falling into the hands of other villages. If he'd needed a trophy, he would have just taken the head and destroyed the rest right there."

Sasuke growled, "So, he's still alive after all that. And the boy must be his partner."

Naruto blinked at that. "What? How do you follow?"

Kakashi forestalled Sasuke's smug explanation by explaining himself. "The boy used senbon to put Zabuza into a death-like state, and then carried him off. I was too tired at the time to question it, because I didn't feel a pulse."

Sakura sighed, running her fingers through her long pink hair nervously. "So he's still alive…how long do you think we have, sensei?"

"About a week." The jounin looked at each of the three of them in turn, no trace of his usually laziness in his eye. "Rest for the remainder of today…we'll start training bright and early tomorrow."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...but I wish I owned him and Sasuke. Go SasuNaru!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Seven**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Naruto was sure that the others would have appreciated a quiet breakfast when they all got up that morning, but she was far too excited to even attempt to be quiet. She had all but dragged Sasuke to the table with her after completely mortifying him by changing with him present, thinking nothing of it…with her back to him, but still. She'd nearly burst a gut laughing at the tomato red color of his face when she'd finally turned back around. He'd stammered something incoherent, in a very un-Uchiha like manner, and fled the room with his own clothing. She had met him outside the bathroom and dragged him off to the spread that Tsunami had laid out, ignoring his half-hearted resistance. His breakfast occupation seemed to consist of glaring at her accusingly between bites of food, but she merrily ignored him. After all, it wasn't so often that even _she_ got under his skin so completely.

Sakura had helped their sensei to the table, completely missing the undertones between the two rivals-turned-friends. Kakashi hadn't though, and his eye was sparkling in amusement beneath the lazy expression. She grinned cheekily at him and demanded, "So, what are we doing today? Something cool right? Hey, can we learn some kick-ass new jutsu?"

Sasuke snorted at that. "Like you could ever learn something good, dead last." She shot him a quick glare, but she just couldn't stay angry today…so she stuck out her tongue and turned back to the jounin.

She was startled when the little boy at the table with them, who she vaguely remembered to be Inari from her discussions with Tazuna, stood up and slammed his fists down on the table. "Why are you even trying? You can't beat Gatou…he's just going to kill you all!"

The kid ran off, and Tazuna said quietly, "Please excuse his behavior. His father, who was a hero of the village, was killed by Gatou. He hasn't been the same since."

She exchanged a glance with Sasuke, seeing the guarded understanding in the raven's eyes, but decided that now wasn't the time to talk to the kid. She wolfed down the rest of her breakfast and sat bouncing impatiently while she waited for the others to finish. The moment they finally made it out the door she grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her along, calling back cheerfully, "We're gonna find a good place! Help Kaka-sensei, bastard!" Sasuke's protest was duly ignored, as was Sakura's.

She sprinted ahead, sensing Sakura's confusion and her struggle to keep up with her pace. It felt so good to really run though…she didn't slow down until they were at the edge of town, and well out of the boys' sight. Sakura was panting hard by then, but Naruto didn't let her stop…after a run like that it would be a mistake to stop without cooling down properly, especially since they hadn't really stretched before they'd started. They continued into the woods at a walk, with Sakura waiting to speak until she'd caught her breath. "What the hell, Naruto? We left them behind!"

The blond shrugged. "I know…they'll catch up though. We need to talk without them."

The kunoichi looked at her curiously. "Talk? What about?" She tugged her hand out of Naruto's, making an attempt at taming the disaster her hair had become during the wild run.

Naruto laced her fingers together behind her head, squinting as she looked up at the glimpses of sky through the tree tops. "You…your training. I know Kaka-sensei's been trying to teach you some stuff, but you were useless in that last encounter."

The other girl stopped dead and stared at her stupidly for a moment before becoming angry. "How dare you say that! I was second only to Sasuke at the Academy! I…I…" She burst into tears, and Naruto knew the girl saw what she was talking about.

The blond's eyes were sympathetic as she looked into the other girl's face, regretting the tears in those green eyes…but knowing they were necessary. "Look, marks aren't everything Sakura. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but…you suck. That doesn't mean we can't fix it, though!" Sapphire eyes narrowed slightly as she reached out to take Sakura's hands. "We don't want to see you get hurt. Ya know, I always thought the kunoichi training is some of the most stupid shit I've ever seen. Flower arranging is great for infiltration missions, but what good's it gonna do you in a fight? Let us help you Sakura. If you work hard, you'll blow those dumb kunoichi from our class outta the water."

She pulled the now sobbing girl into her arms, letting her cry on her shoulder with well-suppressed discomfort. She smoothed pink hair as the girl gasped out incoherent bits about rivalry with Ino, and gaining Sasuke's notice…about missing her best friend, about how she doubted her own strength. Kakashi and Sasuke managed to catch up in that time, but she waved them on when they stopped and looked at the two girls questioningly. Sakura didn't even notice as they continued on past.

When the kunoichi had finally cried her tears dry, she pulled away from Naruto and sniffled, looking up at her uncertainly. "What…what do I need to do?"

Naruto grinned and answered promptly, "Forget about Sasuke-bastard, of course!" As the taller girl opened her mouth to protest, she held up a hand. "Wait, hear me out. If you're gonna do this, it's got to be because _you_ want it, Sakura. Not because you wanna be noticed by some stupid boy. If you're always staring at Sasuke, then your mind is on something other than what you're doing. Forget him, Sakura…it'll be hard, but he respects strength more than being stared at. Besides…I don't think the bastard would know love if it bit him in the ass. You can do way better."

Sakura let out a shaky giggle. "I…you think so? I guess you're right. I'm…tired of being baggage." She then looked Naruto over like she was seeing her for the first time. "You know, you're not so bad yourself…except the orange. We need to burn that jumpsuit."

"Aw, Sakura-chan! This is my favorite!" The blond pouted playfully and started walking in the direction that the boys had disappeared in.

Sakura followed along, managing to get herself somewhat composed. "How can you hide in that thing anyways? That's got to be the loudest thing I've ever seen."

Naruto smirked. "Well, I must be good then…cuz I manage it with this on, right?"

Sakura blinked and giggled. "I never really thought of it that way…we're still getting you new clothes when we get back though."

The blond waved a hand dismissively as they walked into the clearing that the boys were waiting in, ignoring the impatient and vaguely annoyed glare that a certain Uchiha bastard was directing her way. "I have better things to spend my money on. Anyway, remember what I said…" She turned to Kakashi and grinned widely. "So, will you tell us what we're doing now?"

Kakashi said in a deceptively bored tone, "You're going to climb trees…" He paused, obviously enjoying the confused looks.

Naruto snorted. "We can already climb trees. What's so special about that?" After that big speech she just gave Sakura, _this_ was what Kakashi came up with?

The jounin shook a finger at her. "You didn't let me finish. You're going to climb trees…without your hands." He chuckled a little sadistically at the surprised looks. "You didn't think I would give you something easy, did you? This exercise develops chakra control by teaching you how to channel a very specific amount of chakra to a designated area of your body. Let me demonstrate." Kakashi focused for a moment, and the three genin could sense the chakra channeled to his feet. Then he started limping with his crutches towards a tree. When he reached the trunk, she was startled to watch him walk up it without his hands, perfectly perpendicular to the trunk. He walked out onto a branch, hanging upside-down from the bottom of it. "The feet are the most difficult to channel chakra to, and to stay on the tree requires a very specific amount. Too much and you'll damage the tree, propelling yourself away from it. Too little and you won't stick to it." He pulled out three kunai and threw them into the ground at their feet. "To just walk straight up is more difficult than the three of you could manage right now, so take those, pick your tree and get a running start. Mark your progress up the trunk. We'll move on when you reach the top."

They each picked up their kunai with Naruto and Sasuke picking trees next to each other, and Sakura picking one further away. They all started immediately, with Sasuke making it nearly ten feet up the tree before marking his spot off and pushing off to land gracefully, and Naruto making it a bare 5 feet before falling gracelessly on her back with a grunt. She could hear Sakura's laughter from high above them, and twisted around quickly to see the girl already at the top of her tree. "Hey! How did you do that?"

Kakashi had just made it to the bottom of his tree, and was looking somewhat thoughtful. "Sakura already has excellent chakra control. I think I may have to take her off to do a different exercise, since this one isn't going to do her a lot of good."

The blond sulked. "I don't see why we need to do this anyway…" She pushed herself back onto her feet, glaring at the jounin.

The masked man sighed. "Look, it's like this. Sakura has very small chakra reserves at the moment, but she uses them quite efficiently…so she can get the best uses out of what she has. You, on the other hand, have obscenely large chakra reserves, but are so poor at controlling your use that you tire yourself out long before you should. It still takes longer for you to get tired than it does for Sakura, but you could easily go five or even six times as long if you used what you have more efficiently. That is, in part, why you can create a shadow clone, but not a regular clone. The Kage Bunshin no jutsu _requires_ a great deal of chakra, that you can easily provide, but the bunshin no jutsu uses only small amounts, which you don't have enough control to do."

She thought about that for a moment. It made sense. It just irked her that Sakura was better at something than either Sasuke or herself, but at least it would be good for the girl's confidence. She sighed and nodded. "Fine." She turned back to her tree as Kakashi told Sakura that they were going to the river that was nearby. The tree looked dauntingly high, but she refused to let a stupid piece of vegetation defeat her…especially since Sasuke was doing better than she was.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It was nearly dark. She was dirty, and she was sore. Kakashi and Sakura had headed back hours ago, with Sakura looking as tired as she now felt. Her latest mark was about twelve feet up her tree…Sasuke's was fifteen. She was closing the distance, though neither of them had made much progress. She make another attempt, shutting everything out…up, up…eight, eleven…thirteen! She felt her grip slipping, and quickly make her mark before falling gracelessly back to the ground, landing on her back with a groan. She had taken her jacket off long before that, so she reveled in the cool breeze that ran over her fishnet clad torso. The scar down her chest was sore, and she figured she'd probably split it in a few places with all the times she'd stretch it, voluntarily and involuntarily.

She felt more than saw the raven drop down to the ground beside her. He poked her in the side with his foot, causing her to groan again. "Go away, bastard…I wanna die in peace."

He snorted and lay down next to her. They watched the brilliant colors of the sky as the sun set in complete silence. When darkness had finally fallen, he was the first to speak for a change. "Hotaru? What the hell were you doing with Sakura earlier?"

She chuckled tiredly, turning onto her side to watch him. "Doing you a favor, of course. Why do you keep calling me that? I haven't been 'Hotaru' for a long time…"

He frowned, still watching the sky as the stars appeared. "That's why. Now, what do you mean, 'doing me a favor'?"

He didn't seem inclined to give her any more explanation than that, so she was tempted to do the same…but she supposed she wouldn't sink to his level. "I guess it's more for the whole team, but I told her she sucked…and that she had to start ignoring you if she's gonna advance."

That prompted another snort from the Uchiha. "Like that will ever happen. No matter what I do, the girls all seem to think they're destined to be with me."

She grinned at him. "It's because you're broody and mysterious. Trust me though…I think she's coming around. She's hurt herself over you, you know. That's what the crying what about."

The raven rolled his eyes. "I never asked for it. I did everything I could to drive them off. It's not my fault they're all morons. Besides, you never seemed to have any problems." He finally turned onto his side, staring into her face.

She smirked at him. "That's because I'm different. I wasn't about to swoon over some uppity, arrogant asshole. You know, the three of us would make the most screwed up fairy tale characters ever…the monster saving the hero from the maiden. How screwed up is that?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Huh…you think of the weirdest things. That's not really accurate though…you're not a monster, and I'm not a hero. She'd definitely fit as the 'maiden' though."

She chuckled. "Of course, you're the hero. You're mysterious, always there just in time, and worshiped by the entire village. And you look cool doing it. As for me…I've been the monster all my life." She shrugged, closing her eyes to hide the haunted look she knew he'd catch if he could see them. The pain was an old one, but it didn't hurt any less than it had since the day she'd been old enough to understand what they were calling her.

She heard him shift a little, and was startled as she felt his fingers lace with hers. Her eyes flew open, looking into the depths of the ebony ones that were suddenly all she could see. Her breath caught as he replied softly, "No shutting me out. If I can't, you can't…don't hide from me, Hotaru."

She was suddenly incredibly uncomfortable at the intensity of his gaze, wondering dimly if this was how he felt the night before. She didn't want to analyze the feeling for reasons she couldn't put her finger on, so she pushed herself up and dragged him up with her. "C'mon, bastard. Let's go back for now…we can get a fresh start tomorrow with some tips from Sakura."

It went unnoticed by either of them that they didn't let go of each other's hands until they were in sight of the house.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

"_Monster!"_

"_Demon!"_

"_That thing is going to bring disaster back to Konoha!"_

_Darkness surrounded her, with cruel and angry voices echoing around her. She was cold…she was empty. She was alone…utterly alone and completely despised by everyone around her. She curled up in a ball, pressing her forehead against her knees and covering her head with her hands._

"_I don't see why we can't just kill the little beast…"_

"_You killed my parents! Murderer!"_

_She whimpered at the vehemence of the accusations. She shook her head, denying them, but knowing what she did…was she really so sure that they were wrong?_

"_That means that you…are the Kyuubi no Yoko that killed Iruka's parents, and destroyed the village!"_

_Was she the Kyuubi? Iruka didn't think so…but how was he so sure? The voices continued on mercilessly, battering her with the memories they induced of 'accidents' caused by civilians before she was old enough to defend herself, memories of being driven into hiding by the killer intent of the ninja around her…did she really have anyone? Maybe Iruka just pitied her…the old man too. Old doubts gnawed at her…_

Warmth suddenly enfolded her, and a soft, sleepy voice soothed away the emptiness with words that she didn't understand, but felt comforted by all the same. She fell into dreamless sleep gratefully.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She was somewhat surprised to be alone on the futon when she woke that morning. Sasuke was almost always up before she was, was usually the first person up, but he had started waking her when he got up, because he knew that it took her so much longer to get up than it took anyone else, unless it was an emergency circumstance. She wasn't entirely sure how she'd managed to miss him getting up…though there was more than one futon available, they'd continued sharing one for reasons she wasn't quite sure of either. All in all, she was getting more confused by the day. She pushed herself up and dressed quietly, still yawning as she headed down the stairs to find the kitchen full of people eating. She shot a glare at Sasuke. "Why didn't you wake me, bastard?"

He handed her a bowl of food impassively and shrugged. "You needed the sleep."

She plopped down into the chair beside him gracelessly and yawned at Sakura. "So, what did you do yesterday?" She was barely handling the chopsticks properly, but the food was making it into her mouth…more or less.

Sakura watched, obviously not sure whether it should be funny or disgusting…but answered, "Water walking. Kaka-sensei says that the steady use of chakra will help strengthen my pathways and build my reserves."

Naruto's eyes lit up with interest. "Water walking…like what sensei and that other guy were doing? That's so cool!"

Kakashi spoke up at that point. "Master the tree climbing and I'll be able to teach you this too. Now, hurry up and eat so we can get out there. Tomorrow, I'll be going to the bridge with Tazuna-san while you three train. We're running out of time, and I'm rested enough to take up sentry duty."

That got her eating. She was determined to get to the top of that damned tree today if it killed her…or all night. With or without the bastard that seemed to be pointedly ignoring her at the moment. Moody bastard. She finished her food, setting the bowl down with a clatter and getting up to bow to Tsunami. "Thank you for the great meal!"

She rushed off out the door, well ahead of her teammates. By the time they made it to the clearing she already had her jacket off and was hard at work trying to expand on her progress from yesterday. For some reason she felt more rested today than she had the entire mission, and she intended to use every bit of energy she had getting this exercise right. Being fresh, she had actually already made a few feet of progress by the time the others joined her, catching up to Sasuke's mark. She was finding it much easier than yesterday, for some reason.

Sakura and Kakashi continued on out of the clearing to continue the kunoichi's exercises, and Sasuke was silent as he picked up where he had left off the previous day. She was so focused on her task that time seemed to just fly by. Glances over at the raven throughout the day put their progress at roughly the same pace. Despite their budding friendship, she was determined to beat him in this, so when Kakashi and Sakura reappeared close to sunset, she ignored them. Sasuke did as well, and again the pair continued on into town without them.

It was already dark by the time the raven finally collapsed to the ground, panting. He glared up at her as she continued. "I'm going back."

She was dirty, and starting to tire…but they both had reached a height of fifty feet, and had a mere ten left to go. She wasn't tired enough to consider quitting just yet. She shrugged a little at Sasuke, still annoyed by the way he had been ignoring her for no apparent reason all day. "Good for you…I'll be back eventually. Don't wait up."

She heard his annoyed, "Hn," as he limped off in the direction of town, and grinned to herself at getting under his skin again as she took another run up the tree.

One of the secondary advantages of this exercise was that she was learning how to land more gracefully from great heights. One of the reasons she'd never even tried some of the more involved taijutsu styles was her lack of coordination, which had been pointed out again and again at the Academy. She hoped that would change eventually, but at this point it seemed easier to just use something straightforward…and hit very, very hard. She was already stronger in terms of muscular power than Sasuke, though he was far faster than she was. But she could also take a harder pounding than he could, and had more stamina in general.

It was well after midnight, and she had a mere five feet to go when exhaustion suddenly forced her to stop. She dropped to the ground, panting as she glared at the offending tree and decided it was time to go back. She tried to push herself up to her feet, but stumbled as the strength drained out of her. She was out before she hit the ground.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The birds were chirping cheerfully and the sun was obscenely bright when the feeling of fingers tracing the line of her jaw woke her. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into a pair of beautiful grey eyes. The face above her was pale, framed by long, dark hair, and she could feel the rush of blood to her cheeks as the gentle face smiled at her. "You shouldn't sleep here, you'll catch a cold!" The admonishment was in a gentle, friendly tone. Kami, if she had to be a girl why couldn't she be like _this_ one? The girl was clad in a pretty, pink shortened kimono. The black collar around her throat helped frame her beautiful features.

Naruto groaned softly and sat up, replying cheerfully, "You're out here early, lady. What are you doing?" She rubbed her head, not that it made much difference to the look of her blond spikes.

The girl held up her basket with a giggle. "I'm collecting medicinal herbs. Would you like to help me?"

The blond thought about that for a moment. "You'll have to show me what to pick, I don't know about herbs."

The girl nodded and beckoned her over, pulling a plant out of her basket for inspection. "These are what we're looking for. See how the leaves are shaped? These are good for restoring lost energy. Be careful to pick them by the stems, the leaves are the medicinal part, and bruise very easily." She was patient while the former prankster inspected the plant and finally nodded. "My name is Haku, by the way."

Naruto grinned and scratched her head nervously. "I'm Naruto!" Something about this girl gave her weird butterflies in her stomach, but she pushed that out of her mind as she started looking for the plant she had been shown.

They picked for several minutes in silence before Haku finally asked, "So, what were you doing out here?"

The blond looked embarrassed for a minute, but answered cheerfully, "I was training! Guess I overdid it a little." She laughed sheepishly.

Haku giggled and watched her. "So, are you a ninja then? Isn't that what the forehead protector means?"

She nodded as she placed another plant carefully in the other girl's basket. "Yup! I'm gonna be the strongest ninja ever!" She flashed Haku a big grin before moving to find another plant.

Haku looked amused for a moment before leaning towards her and asking seriously, "Naruto-kun, do you know what real strength is?"

Naruto stopped and blinked, confused by the question. "Real strength? What do you mean?"

The other girl smiled and tilted her head as she watched the blond. "Do you have any people that are precious to you, Naruto-kun?"

She wasn't sure what the older girl mean by precious people, but she also had no idea what that had to do with anything. "What does that have to do with strength?"

Haku's expression was serious as she replied, "Incredible feats are possible in the face of threat to someone that is precious to you. It is possible to surpass even your own limits in defense of those people. Please remember that, Naruto-kun." The other girl stood, picking up her basket. As she turned to leave the clearing, she suddenly said over her shoulder, "Oh, Naruto-kun…I'm a boy."

Haku got two steps before Naruto started laughing and replied, "That's okay, Haku-kun…I'm a girl!" She wasn't sure why she told the beautiful boy, but it seemed appropriate. It wasn't like the boy would ever be talking to anyone that she really wanted to hide it from. Haku paused for a moment, but then started chuckling and continued out of the clearing.

Sasuke arrived moments later, glaring at her as she continued to laugh at the irony of what had just happened. He said acidly, "Well, good to see my worry about you was so well founded. Have you lost what little mind you had?"

She perked up, ignoring his tone completely as she chose to deliberately misconstrue his comment. "You were worried about me, bastard? How sweet!" She jumped up, grinning as his face turned stony, but a light blush was visible. Kami, how she loved getting to him! She pointed up to her tree. "I'm ahead of you, bastard!" His head snapped up, and he growled softly just as Kakashi and Sakura walked into the clearing. She was practically bouncing when they appeared. "Watch this!" She turned and ran, focusing on the tree as she reached the trunk. She continued on upwards, ignoring the tired muscles screaming at her. She'd only had a few hours of sleep, but she could stop again after she had shown them. Her heart skipped a beat in excitement as the top of the tree was quickly approaching…ten feet, seven, three…with a surge of triumph she reached the top, and promptly lost her grip on the tree as her strength failed. She blacked out for a moment, and was falling too fast to stop when she came to. There were shouts beneath her, and she suddenly found herself trapped in warm arms, shielding her as they hit the unforgiving ground together.

The body beneath her shifted out from under her as she laid there in a daze, and she suddenly found her field of vision filled by a pair of black eyes as she was being shaken. He was shouting at her as he shook her, which snapped her out of her daze. "You are such an idiot! Are you trying to kill yourself, dead last? Why would you do something so stupid?"

She bristled at that. "I was trying to show you I could do it, bastard! Quit shaking me, damnit!" Her attempt to pull his hands off her collar proved futile since she was so tired, but he removed them a moment later anyway…as he stood and tossed her over his shoulder like so much baggage.

He growled to their other two teammates, who were watching them with bemused expressions, "I'll be back. I'm taking this idiot back for some rest." She wasn't sure she liked where this was going, but didn't have much choice as he carried her off back towards town. By the time they reached the house, she was fast asleep again over his shoulder.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It was dark again when she woke with a vague impression of disturbing dreams. She was surprised to find arms wrapped around her protectively, with a forehead touching the back of her head and a muscular chest pressed against her back. She squirmed out of his embrace and prodded his chest. "What the hell, Sasuke?"

He grasped after her and then blinked sleepily, growling, "You were having a nightmare. Again. How often do you have them?"

"Oh…" She shrugged uncomfortably. "I, uh…several times a week. If it bothers you, I can sleep in another room…"

He reached up to flick her forehead. "Moron. Go back to sleep." He turned his back to her and ignored her glare, drifting back to sleep immediately. She rubbed her forehead and huffed in annoyance before settling back down as well.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She was relieved when Sasuke woke her as normal that morning, and she went about her morning routine quietly. They both filed down the stairs for breakfast, finding that Tsunami and Tazuna were already awake and making breakfast and Inari was sitting quietly at the table. Sakura and Kakashi followed along shortly, and before long they were all eating a subdued meal.

When they finished Kakashi cleared his throat, getting his students' attention. "Today, we'll all accompany Tazuna-san to the bridge. I don't want to take any risks of Zabuza recovering quickly, since we're not sure what his partner is capable of."

Inari looked up sullenly. "It's pointless. Gatou's just going to kill you like he did my dad! There's no such thing as heroes, you know!" Tears started running down his face.

It made Naruto's blood boil…she hadn't seen the kid much, but all he'd done the whole time she had was whine. Her expression darkened. "Why don't you cry a little more, kid? Whine, cry, wail…just go to your room and hide. That's all a spineless crybaby like you is good for!"

Inari stood and shouted at her, "What do you know anyway? You've never grown up without a dad!"

Sasuke just barely stopped her as lunged across the table at the kid in her rage. "At least you still have family, you little shit!" She struggled for a moment before spitting, "I'll meet you guys at the bridge. Talking to this kid is pointless." She wretched herself out of the raven's grasp and stomped out of the house, losing herself easily in the streets of the town.

She wandered for almost two hours before she finally thought to ask directions to the bridge. She was feeling slightly guilty at that point…yeah, the kid was a crybaby, but he was young, and really didn't deserve to take the brunt of her own problems. She'd have to apologize to him later.

She was backtracking a bit so that she could follow the main road to the bridge when she suddenly heard a wavering voice yell, "If you don't leave my mother alone, I'll kill you!" She recognized Inari's voice with a start, breaking into a sprint in the direction of the side road it had come from. She stopped in the cover of a building, peering around the corner just in time to see Inari rushing the pair of swordsmen that held his mother between them. She cursed softly as the boy went flying, and created a pair of clones. She gave the kid points for bravery, but there was no way he was any sort of match for the swordsmen, and the laughing pair knew it.

Her two clones moved from cover first, dashing out with kunai in hands to catch the attention of the swordsmen. They went wide, flanking the pair to turn their attention from the woman for a split second, and in that moment she sprinted from cover and scooped up Tsunami and Inari both so quickly that the distracted men missed it. She deposited her burdens down the road and turned to the men with a feral look in her eyes. "Picking on the defenseless, huh? How about you pick on _me_ instead?" She rushed them, and with a couple of brutal punches they were both out for the count. She was rather disappointed…even together, they weren't up to the level of the chuunin that she had fought.

She bound them quickly, and turned to her charges in time to hear the boy groan softly. He lit up as he saw her. "Naruto-nii-san! You were just like a real hero! How did you know?"

She walked over to crouch by the boy and his mother. "I heard you on my way to the bridge. Think you can get your mother home?"

Inari nodded, but then his face fell. "I tried to save her, but all I did was get in the way…"

She grinned and reached out to ruffle his hair. "Nah, you did great kid! If you hadn't distracted them long enough, I wouldn't have been able to save your mom!" Her head snapped around suddenly as she felt chakra signatures flare in unmistakable combat readiness from the direction of the bridge. "Shit! Get your mom to safety, okay Inari? I'm counting on you, here. I have to go help my team."

The kid nodded and picked his mother up as best he could. "Good luck!"

She turned and smirked for a moment. "Aren't I a hero, kid? Heroes don't need luck!" She ruffled his hair again and dashed off at top speed for the bridge, praying she wouldn't be too late to help.

**Author's Note:** Okay, so the idea of no pairings has kinda gone right out the window, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy, acknowledged by the characters involved, or particularly fluffy. Don't get me wrong, I love fluff…but I violently dislike easy, and by nature these characters aren't the kind to have any sort of bond without complicating it completely. Anyway, there's a little more insight into Naruto/Hotaru's mind here…I hope you all like. I'd like to thank everyone that added a review or an alert. It's rather gratifying to see how many of you want to know when a chapter of this goes up. And please, please tell me what you think by reviewing! I get rather self-conscious when no one says anything…


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...but I am very much in awe of Kishimoto-sensei's genius!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Eight**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Uchiha Sasuke had far more to think about than he would have thought possible a bare two weeks ago, and far too much time to indulge in his brooding as they played sentry at the bridge while the construction crew worked, minus the mercurial Hotaru. His life had been simple before this mission had started…eat, sleep, train, brood about his brother. He moved through this routine with little attention to anything else, except his increasing rivalry with the supposedly inept Naruto. They weren't worthy of him, and the only reason he had tolerated them was because he was making slow but measurable progress under Kakashi. None of the students of his year had been worth his time. Or so he had thought…

But since they had left the village for this mission, things had become increasingly complicated at an exponential rate. It had all started with that initial encounter with that pair of chuunin. He had been stunned when _Naruto_ had stepped up with him to deal with one of their opponents, and even more surprised when he had turned to see Naruto deliver a crushing blow to the other ninja. That had been when he'd awoken to the fact that he, _Uchiha Sasuke_, had miscalculated terribly. The concern and respect when the idiot's answer to the poison in 'his' wound had been to drive a kunai through it to bleed it out had been entirely unfeigned. The surge of feeling as he had held the blond idiot steady had been entirely spontaneous though, and more than a little disturbing to him. Nothing had moved him like that in all the years since the massacre…why now?

He had spent the next couple of days following Naruto around, trying to understand how he could have possibly missed the blond's strength all this time, and coming to terms with the fact that this blond _idiot_ was truly a worthy rival for him. He discovered that, despite all the cheerful posturing, the loud clothes and voice, the open determination…the blond was remarkably closed, keeping anything remotely deep well hidden. They knew almost _nothing_ about 'him', besides what 'he' decided to show them. They all knew that 'he' was an orphan, but Sasuke quickly found that it was the _only_ thing they knew about Naruto's past. He had even gone so far as to ask Sakura if she knew anything else, figuring that one of the class gossips would know if anyone did, but she had been just as stumped as he was.

The night at the water had been an even bigger shock for him. Despite Naruto's care in moving quietly, Sasuke had woke almost immediately, catching the smell of blood even though his sense of smell wasn't nearly as developed as his teammate's. He had frozen when the other 'boy' had moved out of the tent without bothering to wake him, and then drifted along silently to position himself behind Kakashi's tent to listen. Even now he wasn't sure if the jounin had noticed him or not, but either way he had been allowed to stay. The conversation between the two that followed had driven all real thought out of his mind for a while, replacing it with a single train of thought. Naruto was a _girl_…his _rival_ was a girl!

He had absolutely no idea what to feel at that point, and had stumbled his way back to bed after Naruto had left Kakashi's tent in a state of complete numbness. He was pretending to sleep when she got back, and she seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he had overheard her secret. He slept very little that night, and had decided the next day to avoid her completely as he sorted out the conflicting feelings that had replaced the numbness over the course of the night.

She was possibly the most confusing person he had ever met, and all this time he had just thought she was a shallow moron. As he'd watched her sudden mood shifts over the course of the day he'd been forced to conclude that she was like no other girl he had ever met, and a great deal more complicated than she let people see. She wasn't the least bit _girly_, she didn't fawn over him. She wasn't afraid to give her everything to anything she attempted, and she wasn't afraid to get dirty or injured. She was devoted to truly becoming stronger, no matter what she had to do to reach her goals…including pretending to be a boy. But…she was a _girl_. Girls were naturally weaker, that was why kunoichi training was different…wasn't it? That first battle had to have been a complete fluke…

He had just about managed to dismiss it as a fluke when Zabuza had appeared, and the ensuing battle had only brought up yet more unfamiliar feelings. He'd been surprised by the fact that she had caught on to the significance of the rabbit's color so quickly, but when the surge of killer intent from the opposing jounin had driven him nearly suicidal he had his first hint of how truly astonishing this _girl_ was. She had acted like the massive intent of the two far more powerful shinobi didn't faze her…and she had reminded him and Sakura of the mission. Just who was she that she could shrug off that kind of thing so easily? He had to remember to ask her later. He had doubted when Kakashi left her in charge, but once again she'd proved her worth and more…her split second planning and execution had been well above the average genin level, even going so far as to take his and Sakura's abilities into account. By the time he was pounding to the water behind her he had forgotten his doubts and her gender...at that point they were partners, with her depending on him just as much as the reverse was true.

When the mist had dispersed and she'd pushed him out of the way of the clone's blade something in his subconscious had made up his mind about her for him. He had snapped, suddenly sure that she was dying…he was fairly sure he had screamed her name as the clone advanced on her to finish the job, and in that moment something happened. The clone's movements were suddenly obvious to him, and he had used this newfound ability with savage joy, engaging the clone with the intent of killing it and Zabuza for what they had done. The clone had been startled by his new ability to keep up with it, but try as he might…he wasn't enough alone. Moments from when he'd realized this though there was a flash of brilliant crimson on the other side of the clone, and its attention was suddenly divided. It's movements as its attention was split between two fast opponents were full of openings, and he'd finally been able to take a big enough opening to deliver a 'killing' blow, dispersing the clone. As he had faced the one that came to his aid, he was startled to find it to be Naruto…but a changed Naruto. Slit crimson eyes stared into his, widening a little as she caught sight of his Sharingan. Her hair was even spikier than before, the whisker marks on her cheeks had broadened, and her canines had elongated, all contributing to give her a wild, feral appearance.

He had been more than a little worried when she had suddenly collapsed after the battle. Her eyes had faded to a dull, almost lifeless blue that frightened him more than the red had. In all the time he'd known her he had never seen her eyes look that _dead_. Tazuna was already carrying Kakashi, so he had insisted on carrying her himself, despite the fact that Sakura was in far better shape in the aftermath of it all. He had held her close to his chest, staring down at her whenever Sakura wasn't paying attention, at war with himself. This girl, who looked so young when she was sleeping, deserved every bit of respect he could give her, was worth every drop of blood he knew he was going to have to spill for her in the coming days…but that wasn't who he was. He couldn't afford these feelings. He was an avenger!....but even so, he had kept Sakura at arm's length, insisting that she couldn't be allowed to tend the 'boy' when Tsunami would be so much more appropriate.

He had stayed with her himself, and had all but ordered Sakura to tend to Kakashi. The kunoichi had been disappointed, but he was determined to keep the injured girl's secret for some reason. Maybe it was because it wasn't his secret to tell, but something deeper whispered tauntingly that maybe it was because he wanted to keep this spectacular girl all to himself. He had dismissed it, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to ignore it forever.

Their discussion when she woke up had been a surprise in itself. How was it that a single, small girl managed to bring out both the best and the worst in him, sometimes all in one breath? He hadn't realized the depth of her pain until that night, so similar to and yet still different from his. She had seen his though…and had somehow gotten him to agree to share it. He still had no idea why he had agreed. He almost resented her interference, but there was really no room for resentment with the way she continually astonished and challenged him lately. And she had given him her name…her real name. She was fierce in her protection of it, as though she would fall apart without the identity known as 'Naruto'.

It had been the night she had that first nightmare he had realized that if he needed her, she also needed him just as much. It had been almost second nature to pull her tense, struggling body into his arms and sooth her fears away with quiet words. It was frustrating though. He knew he had a duty to his clan and that he couldn't go getting bogged down by foolish ties, but Hotaru was like a force of nature. He could resist as much as he wanted, but she was going to win in the end. He thought with some amusement that she would probably enjoy the fight itself as much as winning. That seemed very much like her. He had woke first and avoided her again the next day, embarrassed by his show of emotion even though she seemed completely oblivious to what had happened.

He sighed as he watched Kakashi work on some strength training exercises with Sakura closer to the unfinished end of the bridge. He came to the conclusion that he was just going to have to take it a day at a time. There was really nothing else he could do given the way she continued to reshape his life and his opinions effortlessly.

Just as he came to that conclusion, the sound of construction stopped…the workers started to run from something further down the bridge, past Kakashi and Sakura. As they straightened to look down the bridge, he felt a flare of chakra…and then mist started to rise. He pushed himself up, running to where the jounin and the kunoichi were standing. This wasn't a good sign…

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Why did the bridge have to be so damned _far_ away? She was cursing under her breath, her lungs burning as she ran at full speed for the bridge. The flares of chakra signifying battle had been getting stronger and more frequent as she ran, but she was still too far…it was normally a half-hour walk, nothing that she couldn't run in minutes. But battles could be finished in minutes, and if she wasn't there when something happened…she'd never forgive herself. These people were her family now, and she had to be there for them.

When she finally got in sight of the bridge, her heart sank to see the mist that covered it and some of the surrounding area. The chakra flares were still going though. She continued on into the mist grimly, moving as quickly and as silently as she could. She quickly came on Sakura and Tazuna, putting a hand on the kunoichi's shoulder to get her attention. "Sakura, what's happening?"

The other girl jumped. She turned and almost attacked before she realized that the one that grabbed her was Naruto, who was staring grimly off into the mist. "Naruto! Where have you been? Zabuza and that boy showed up. Kakashi had to agree to let the boy and Sasuke-kun fight because he couldn't protect us all at once. They're all out there in the mist somewhere!"

Naruto looked back and forth between the two fights that she couldn't even see. Both were still going strong, so obviously Sasuke was holding his own. She turned back to Sakura. "Kaka-sensei will be fine against the jounin, but this boy is an unknown. I'm going to go help Sasuke. Move back a bit further, but stay on the bridge okay?" She was satisfied when Sakura nodded in relief, and slipped off into the mist silently.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

He was holding his own, but he wasn't winning by any stretch of the imagination. He was beginning to look like a living pincushion. He had his Sharingan, but the other boy was frustratingly fast. He had been eager to test his new ability when the masked boy had suggested that they be opponents and had quickly proven that he was fast, but then the boy had put up those strange ice mirrors. Sasuke could still see him as he moved between mirrors, but was having a hell of a time keeping up. His body just wasn't fast enough, and only getting less so as he was tiring far more quickly than he thought he would trying to keep up. He was also losing blood faster than he liked to think about. It didn't help that the boy seemed invulnerable when he was in those mirrors, and the raven's Sharingan couldn't seem to see through the reflections that the boy threw up to confuse him.

A barrage of senbon rained down on him, and he went down to his knees as pain blossomed in his right calf, his left thigh, and the back of his neck. He looked up at the boy reflected in the mirror, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge another deadly rain when dozens of voices, all that of the same person, shouted his name from outside the mirrors.

He wondered vaguely if the masked boy was as startled as he was when the bottom circle of mirrors all started to shudder from the force of hundreds of heavy blows. His gaze slid down to watch in bemusement as Hotaru directed dozens of clones in their assault of the mirrors, her eyes crimson in her fury. She was effortlessly replacing them as the confused ice wielder was destroying. Sasuke knew she'd pay for using so much chakra later, but it struck him as enormously funny that Kakashi's chakra control lesson had come in handy so quickly. His thoughts were rather fuzzy as he wondered why exactly she fought for him so when he'd really been nothing but an asshole to her right up until this very mission.

The killer intent from Naruto reached a new peak as he felt himself start to slide to the side, his consciousness starting to slip from his grasp…but he fought the blackness back with every ounce of will when he found the mirrors…the previously indestructible mirrors…shattering around him and throwing the masked boy back to impact with one of the bridge railings. Several orange blurs pursued, but he suddenly found himself being gathered up into a pair of arms. Crimson eyes filled his vision, filled with tears, and a gentle voice shook as it admonished him, "You idiot, you were supposed to wait for me! What kind of hero are you if the monster is always saving you?"

His guard was completely gone at this point. He buried his face in the familiar orange jacket, and muttered, "If the monster saves the hero…does the monster get to keep the hero?" Try as he might though, he couldn't stay conscious long enough to hear her answer.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She was shaking as she handed the unconscious Sasuke off to one of her clones to carry back to Sakura. She knew that the kunoichi would take good care of him, as much as he'd dislike her later for it. Her blood boiled with that dark fire as she stalked over to where the masked boy was holding off a few of her clones easily. The world seemed to grind to a halt again for a moment as she sped up, taking an opening that was obvious to her crimson eyes as the boy finished throwing two handfuls of senbon. His arms were wide open as she rushed into the opening in a blur of orange, red and gold, grabbing the front of his shirt. Her fist connected with his mask hard enough to knock him out, shattering it in the process.

She pulled her fist back to deliver the killing blow when the pieces of the shattered mask slid from his face and revealed…Haku. Gentle, beautiful Haku. The fire drained out of her in a rush, leaving her empty again until she remembered her conversation with the boy, about precious people. Dread gripped her as it suddenly hit her that Zabuza _had_ to be Haku's precious person. Why go to all that effort to save him in the first encounter otherwise?

She turned in the direction of the other battle, her breath catching. This was bad…so bad. If Kakashi killed Zabuza, they would probably have to kill Haku too…and she _liked_ Haku. She hefted the unconscious boy over her shoulder and took off towards the fighting. She had to stop Kakashi and Zabuza!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura was startled as Naruto emerged from the mist, gently carrying Sasuke's form bridal style against his chest. He knelt down to gently place the boy at her feet and looked up at her. "He's gonna be fine Sakura, he's just out cold. Naruto is dealing with the boy he was fighting." It hit her then that this had to be a Naruto clone. She nodded as the clone started trying to disengage the raven's oddly clutching hands from his jacket, laughing softly. "C'mon bastard, don't make me drop you."

Sakura was suddenly sure that, despite the threat, there was no way that Naruto would voluntarily drop the other boy. She leaned in to help Naruto untangle the boy just as Sasuke muttered, "Hotaru…" into the other's chest. She froze for a moment. There was no one named Hotaru in Konoha, so who was Sasuke talking about? The clone glanced up at her. "You gonna help me with the bastard or not? Naruto can't keep me going forever you know." She nodded quickly and helped him get the raven laid out on the ground. The clone stood. "Guard him and Tazuna…we're counting on you Sakura." She had no time to ask about the mysterious 'Hotaru' as the clone sprinted off into the mist.

She was examining Sasuke when a throat cleared behind her. She whirled, only to come face to face with Gatou and his mob of henchmen. She sucked in a deep breath as she took them all in…a few she could deal with herself, but this many?

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The mist dispersed suddenly as she approached the other fight. The first thing she saw was Kakashi charging up an attack, and Zabuza being held immobile by a dozen or so nin-dogs. She threw herself between the two with Haku still over her shoulder and screamed, "Kaka-sensei, _stop_!"

The startled jounin lost concentration on the attack he was charging at the sudden appearance of his most surprising student, which was exactly what she'd hoped would happen. "Naruto, what…?"

She promptly ignored him, turning quickly to pin the startled Mist ninja with a glare. "You need to take Haku and leave."

Zabuza gaped at her for a moment and then started laughing. "You have some balls, kid. Why would I want to take Haku and leave?"

She put the boy down on the ground in front of her. "Because otherwise Kaka-sensei's going to kill you, and Haku deserves better than that."

The Mist jounin snorted. "Haku is a tool, raised to be the perfect shinobi weapon. If he was defeated he deserves what he gets."

She ground her teeth and snarled, "Haku _loves_ you. Being a shinobi doesn't mean being without feeling…and Haku loves you! Look at all Haku has done for you!"

The man looked startled. "Loves…me? Shinobi don't love, kid, don't give me that stupid shit…" His expression wasn't as certain as he was trying to sound though.

It was her turn to snort. "That's bullshit. Good shinobi feel. You know who taught me that? Haku. He told me that a person can do incredible things in defense of their precious person…and you're Haku's precious person."

Zabuza's expression darkened. "Even if he did, I don't deserve love from a person like him…"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't you think that's his decision? How about you take this chance to get out of here and explore your new discovery?" She grinned suddenly and walked up to him, leaning in to whisper, "Even monsters get to be loved Zabuza. Even if you don't know what to do…he will."

The Mist ninja looked down into her eyes for a moment, once again startled. Then he roared with laughter. "You know, I like you, kid! Just gotta deal with Gatou first…then we can get away from here. I wanted to kill the bastard earlier anyways." The look in the Demon of the Mist's eyes as he looked over at Haku was tender, despite his unreadable expression. Kakashi stared at him hard for a moment before releasing the jutsu that was holding him.

A throat cleared nervously from behind Kakashi, and they all turned to see Sakura standing there with a rather embarrassed look. An armed force of the villagers stood behind her, and Tazuna had Sasuke in his arms. Sakura spoke up rather timidly, "Um…about Gatou. I think I may have accidentally killed him."

They all gaped at her for a moment before Naruto let out a whoop of glee and ran over to hug the kunoichi. "That's our Sakura! What happened?"

Remembered anger flooded the girl's green eyes as she spat indignantly, "He didn't believe I was a real ninja and attacked me with that ridiculous cane of his! But he was just terrible, and managed to stumble _onto_ my kunai. I don't know who was more stunned…him or me. The swordsmen were about to turn on us when Inari showed up with the villagers and drove them off." She glared as Naruto hung off her, laughing her ass off helplessly.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, let's get the wounded taken care of then. We should probably stop work for today anyways…we can pick up again tomorrow."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It was Sasuke's turn to wake up swathed in bandages with an arm over his chest. It was still light outside, and as he prodded the prone form of his sleeping partner it occurred to him that he had absolutely no clue how the battle had ended, what Hotaru's answer to his silly question had been, or even how long he had been out. But by the fact that he was position in such a way that he should have had the futon to himself he was guessing it was probably still the same day. He didn't think she would have sat there patiently for longer than that without either moving him over or pulling out the other futon.

When she didn't wake immediately he prodded her again, harder this time, which earned him an annoyed groan and the glare of sapphire eyes as she pulled her head up. "Ungrateful bastard. Why'd you wake me up?" She yawned as she pulled herself into a sitting position, pulling her wrapped right hand into her lap.

He answered wryly, "If you're going to sleep it might as well be on the bed, idiot…" and then frowned and grabbed her injured hand, demanding, "What did you do to your hand this time, dead last?" He yanked her over to examine it, much to her obvious embarrassment.

She scratched the back of her head sheepishly with her free hand. "That? Oh…I broke a couple fingers when I shattered Haku's mask. Didn't really notice until after. It's almost healed"

He snorted and pushed himself up, reaching over to unzip her jacket. "Figures…only you. So, how did the rest go?"

She swatted his hands away and pulled the jacket off herself before shoving him off the futon unceremoniously. "Great! Zabuza and Haku decided they want to come back to Konoha with us, you've been out for three days but should only be a little sore when we get those bandages off, and Sakura killed Gatou!"

She grinned at his disbelief. None of those were the answers he was expecting. "Sakura? Are you serious?"

She laughed as she told him the rest in detail, getting him to lift his arms so that she could remove his bandages while she talked. She got him to stand when she was done so that she could look him over. "Well, you're a bit bruised, but in pretty good shape now that you're not exhausted. Did I tell you yet that you're stupid?"

He bristled at that and replied coldly, "No more than you are, dead last. Can I get dressed now? I'd like to go eat."

He was wary of the sparkle in her sapphire eyes as she readily agreed. He turned to grab his clothing, grabbing the waist of his boxers when it occurred to him that he could still feel her watching him. He turned and snapped, "Well, turn around or something!"

She grinned and said slyly, "But Sasuke, I thought that since the monster saved the hero, the monster got to keep the hero? Why can't I see what's mine?"

He could feel the heat of blood rushing to his face as he made a hasty escape, and her laughter followed him all the way to the bathroom.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke watched the group broodingly as they all stood at the now finished bridge a few days later, all packed and getting their farewells over with. Hotaru was going from person to person with enthusiastic good-byes. It seemed that the village regarded her as a hero, and as far as he was concerned the sunny blond could have every bit of the attention. Kakashi and Zabuza were discussing something a short distance away and Sakura was having an animate discussion with Haku about what sounded to be clothing and appropriate fighting gear. He shook his head and chose to keep his eyes on the ridiculously cheerful blond.

As she finished her good byes, she was suddenly pounced by Sakura and Haku, who seemed determined to convince her to get rid of the eye-searing orange jumpsuit. Privately he agreed with them, but he wasn't going to add anything to the argument. It was far more amusing to watch the other two try to convince her as they all headed off down the bridge with him following along behind the arguing trio.

They moved along at a much faster pace now that they didn't have to hold their speed to Tazuna's, and Kakashi expected that they would be able to make it home by evening the following day. He planned to send a dog on ahead to the Hokage with a preliminary report and news of the additions they were bringing with them. After almost an hour of listening to Sakura, Haku and Hotaru talk, the blond dropped back to join him. She kept her eyes ahead as she said softly, "You've been awfully quiet. Nothing wrong, is there?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't have anything to say. It seems they have all the bases covered."

She snorted, shifting her pack on her back before replying. "I like this jumpsuit. It's comfortable, and it's my favorite color. And it hides certain things well."

He glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "You're not going to be able to hide it forever you know. Girls…well they don't…they aren't shaped the same as boys. You'll…grow things. You're going to have to start telling people."

She gave him the strangest look. "They're called breasts Sasuke. And I know…but I want to prove I'm as good as any damned shinobi before I let them know what I am."

He shrugged and looked ahead at the path again. "Why? The people that count already know, don't they? And…" He looked over at her clothing in distaste. "That jumpsuit really is hideous."

She stared at him for a moment…and then groaned good-naturedly. "Not you too! It's a conspiracy, I swear!" She suddenly yelled to the pair ahead of her, "You win! He agrees it's hideous, damned bastard!"

Sakura turned and called back, "I don't know how you get anything out of him, Naruto! I was beginning to think his entire vocabulary was the word 'hn'…not that it's really a word. But since he's agreeing, I won't question! So you have to get a new wardrobe then!" The kunoichi cackled at the expression on Hotaru's face.

The blond glared and shouted, "Where am I going to get the money for a new wardrobe!" She shook a fist at Sakura and Haku, who were laughing merrily.

He surprised them all by speaking up then. "I'll pay, as long as we get to burn those damned jumpsuits."

Sakura and Haku gleefully started discussion options as Hotaru turned a dark gaze on him and hissed, "You'll do no such thing, Uchiha Sasuke. What do you think you're doing?"

He smirked at her. "I think that I'm outmaneuvering you, dead last. They're going to want to take you clothes shopping. Which means you'll have to try things on."

She paled slightly, her eyes going wide, and growled, "You asshole! Are you trying to expose me?"

He snorted and glared back at her. "You don't have to if you don't want to. But…I think it would be better if you did it sooner, rather than later. Does it really matter what anyone else thinks, Hotaru? You're going to have to tell them eventually…and you've already finished the important part of shinobi training. Kakashi's opinion isn't going to change now. Neither will mine."

She took a deep breath and shuddered softly, reaching out unconsciously to grab his hand. "What if…what if they can't accept me, Sasuke?"

He was startled when her hand slid into his, but allowed it because she was so obviously upset, knowing that she meant the rest of the ninja, including Sakura and the rest of their fellow Rookies. "Then fuck them. You have us."

She glanced at him, clearly startled. "Even you bastard?"

He nodded, his decision finally made up. "Yes…even me."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Naruto…no, Hotaru sat at the campfire that evening about to have a litter of kittens. Well, not literally, but she felt like it. She was thankful for Sasuke's silent but solid presence beside her as she waited for a lull in conversation between the other members of the party. Haku and Kakashi already knew, but not all the details, so she had decided to start with them…then kinda spring it on the rest as she encountered them. She cleared her throat and laughed nervously as all attention turned to her. "Ah…I have something I wanted to say to all of you. Sasuke already knows…" She shot Kakashi an apologetic glance, and rushed on quickly, "I just thought you should know…I'm really a girl. My name is Uzumaki Hotaru."

**Author's Note:** You guys are too good to me! *gets all teary-eyed* So here's another chapter. I'm going to leave reactions to Naruto/Hotaru's announcement for the next chapter. This one is very Sasuke oriented, but his viewpoint is becoming increasingly necessary to the story. Thank you again to everyone that reviewed and added this to their alerts! Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...but he would still wear orange if I did!

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Nine**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

There was stunned silence around the little campfire. Sasuke was sitting in his 'brooding' position, glaring at the little party in general. Kakashi seemed surprised that she had decided to reveal herself. Haku seemed pretty serene, but he didn't know the background leading up to this. Zabuza seemed shocked for a moment, but it was quickly turning to amusement…especially since he was aware of how close Hotaru and Haku were becoming. And Sakura…

Sasuke watched as Sakura's mouth opened and closed a few times…and then she started laughing, a touch hysterically. "A girl! That's a good one, Naruto! How did you manage to get Sasuke-kun in…?" She trailed off as she saw the hurt expression on Hotaru's face.

The blond got up abruptly before anyone could gather their wits to react to that and snapped, "I'm going for a walk!" before stomping out of the clearing.

All eyes turned on the stunned kunoichi, and then both Sasuke and Kakashi stood. Both started to turn before Kakashi waved him off. "I'll talk to her, Sasuke. She might just decide to use _you_ as a punching bag instead of a tree if you go."

The raven growled his agreement before turning cold eyes on Sakura. She flushed with embarrassment and stammered, "I…I didn't…"

He cut her off, snapping in an acidic tone, "You didn't what? Didn't think? Do you ever, Sakura?" He sneered at her, enjoying the tears that were welling up in her green eyes before he continued bitingly, "You know, I think Hotaru was right when she said that marks aren't everything. You're certainly proof of that." It was more than he had ever said to the girl, but he discovered that he didn't feel a bit sorry about it. He didn't feel sorry about the devastated expression on her face either.

Her expression suddenly twisted into anger and she spat, "Why are you sticking up for her? She's lied to us all for _how_ long? And for what? What could she _possibly_ have done something so incredibly stupid for?"

He was mildly impressed despite himself. The Sakura of a few weeks ago would have just folded under his disapproval, whether it had been a major issue or not. She was developing a spine at last. He smirked and replied, "She didn't want to be seen as weak. She didn't want to be treated like a second-class ninja just because she was a girl. She was smart enough to find a way."

Green eyes flashed in fury as she snarled, "Maybe she did it just to get at you! Is that why she told me to forget you? Did that even occur to you, _Sasuke_?" Zabuza and Haku decided at that point to vacate the clearing for somewhere quieter, and he watched them back away slowly from the enraged kunoichi.

He snorted and replied derisively, "She's not you, Sakura. Don't try to drag her down to your level. She didn't plan to reveal her secret to anyone for years…circumstances forced her to. We respect each other's abilities, but she's not out to 'get at me'. We are friends, and rivals, but nothing more."

Sakura threw her hands up in frustration. "So _that's_ why you were sharing a futon then? Yes, that's really '_friend_' behavior…and definitely something '_rivals_' would do. You know what? I wish you two idiots the best of luck together! You definitely _deserve_ each other!" He didn't know what to say to that, but luckily he didn't have to say a thing. She stalked out of the clearing in the opposite direction of the one Hotaru had gone.

He sat abruptly as his legs gave out underneath him, leaving him to think about something that he'd been trying hard not to think about since their arrival in Wave.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru was doing her best to take down a tree with her bare fists alone when Kakashi caught up with her. He spent several minutes watching her in silence, but finally caught her arms when her knuckles started bleeding. "I think that's enough of that, Hotaru-chan." His voice was firm. She fought him, but the jounin was far stronger than she was and finally got her to sit with her back against the tree. He crouched in front of her. "She didn't mean it that way, you know."

She growled softly and glared into his visible eye, replying bitterly "How did she mean it then? Am I some sort of joke?" She was surprised that it was Kakashi that had followed her, but she supposed that they were going to have to talk about it eventually.

He sighed and shook his head. "You're not a joke, but you have to admit that it was quite a shock. She's young…she's had it easy. I'm not going to say that she's less mature because you can be pretty immature at times, but she's not as sure as you are of anything. You may get a lot of reactions like that from your peers."

She pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging her knees, and snorted softly. "Like I'm really sure of anything…"

He chuckled. "You're sure of what you can do. Your goals are clear. That's far more than she's got."

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure about how to be a girl though…I've been 'Naruto' since I was four years old, Kaka-sensei. How do I be 'Hotaru' when I've been him for more than half my life? I don't even know who she is anymore. I'm not even sure I know who _he_ is now. Who am I? I feel so lost…"

The jounin shrugged. "So let her teach you. After all this time, you're never going to be a girl in the same way the rest of them are. None of them would have done what you have to get this far. So…let her show you how to be a girl and then find the path that _you_ want to walk, somewhere in between. You're Konoha's most surprising ninja…that's never going to change. We'll be here while you figure out who you are."

The blond looked up at him with mock-suspicion. "You're making too much sense. Who are you, and what did you do with my sensei?" She pushed herself up off the ground and grinned. "Thanks though…"

He gave her his smiley look. "You'd better wrap those hands." He pointed at her bloody knuckles.

She looked down at them and groaned…why was it always her hands? "Screw that…I'm going to go find out what happened to Sakura." The blond ran off back towards camp.

Kakashi rose as Zabuza stepped out of the cover of the trees and snorted as he stared after the blond. "Hatake-san, your team has got to be the biggest bunch of freaks I've ever met. I like them. Think your Hokage will let me take your kunoichi off your hands for a little while when we reach Konoha?"

The silver-haired man glanced back at the Demon curiously. "Hotaru? It's possible…"

The bandaged Mist-nin chuckled. "No, Sakura." The smirk in his eyes was evident at Kakashi's surprise. "She's starting to develop some interesting spunk…I think she'd do well training with Haku for a bit. And Hotaru…is no 'kunoichi'. That one's shinobi to the core, and going to be every bit the demon they call me. I wish you luck with her and the Uchiha."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke wasn't sure how long he sat there in silence, alone with his thoughts, but he had managed to compose himself by the time Hotaru came storming into the clearing with all the subtlety of a raging hurricane. He winced slightly as she stomped up behind him and demanded, "Where did Sakura go? What the hell happened, bastard?"

He managed to reply in an even and slightly disinterested tone, "She said some exceptionally stupid things, and I corrected her. Then she decided she needed some time to cool off." He nodded in the direction that Sakura had stormed off in.

He felt the blue eyes bore into the back of his head as the blond digested that…and then suddenly found himself eating a face full of dirt as she unexpectedly punched him in the back of the head and declared, "You're such an asshole, Uchiha! Well, I guess I'd better go fix your mess!"

She swept out of the clearing with the same force that she'd entered it, leaving him to stare after her with a bewildered feeling, muttering resentfully about stupid girls as he rubbed the rising lump on the back of his head.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura wasn't sure how long she was running for, but it was more or less a blind run. She was crying so hard that she couldn't see around her burning eyes. Her world had just shifted into something unrecognizable around her, and she was twice as heartbroken now as she was when Naruto…no, Hotaru…had pointed out how useless she was. She was the star kunoichi of her class, the brightest of her year, second only to Uchiha Sasuke himself. How had things gone so very wrong? And on top of that, Hotaru was so much stronger than she was. How could she hope to even compete? She had gone from having the best chances with him…to being bottom of the barrel with every other kunoichi in her year. It was obvious to everyone but them that Sasuke and Hotaru were quickly developing eyes for no one but each other, though it had been easy to dismiss the signs when she thought the blond was a boy.

Her lungs were burning by the time she tripped over something unseen and landed flat on her face. She just didn't care enough to get up though…she didn't fight it when a pair of strong arms gathered her up, whispering soothing nonsense and stroking her hair gently. She sobbed into the offered shoulder gratefully, disregarding the approach of a second person. She had no idea how long she cried but she was exhausted by the time she stopped. She felt empty, and apathy settled over her. The silence between the two others continued for several minutes before the person holding her shifted into a more comfortable position, and she finally got up the energy to look up. She was startled to find herself being held by Haku, with a very solemn looking Hotaru sitting with them.

The blond grimaced and obviously decided to start things off. "I'd like to say I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't really consider your feelings when I just blurted things out like that. And I'd also like to say that I'm sorry for anything the bastard might have said. Tactless asshole…" She trailed off into darkly ominous mutters that involved castrating Uchiha males while watching her teammate uncertainly. The kunoichi was a little startled that the other girl was apologizing for the Uchiha without even knowing what Sakura had said to him.

Sakura wasn't sure why, but that suddenly struck her as incredibly funny, breaking the apathy that gripped her. If her laughter had a hysterical edge, the other two didn't comment. They also didn't join her, letting her laugh herself out as she clung to Haku. When she finally caught her breath, she replied, "I…I'm sorry too…Hotaru. I said some mean and untrue things. I was…already on my way to letting go of him, but this was more than I was ready to hear yet and I reacted badly."

Blue eyes stared into hers, clearly puzzled. "More than you were ready to hear? Why would this have anything to do with you letting go of him?"

Sakura drew in a deep, shaky breath and stared into the blond's eyes, searching for any sign that the other girl was anything but sincere…then said softly, "You really don't know, do you? I don't think he does either…" She glanced up into Haku's grey eyes thoughtfully. "You see it, don't you?"

The older ninja nodded as the blond just stared at them, confused and getting a little annoyed. "See what? What did I miss?"

The kunoichi suddenly knew what she wanted. If she couldn't have Sasuke, she'd make sure that he got the best. And the best was sitting here with them, though she was rough around the edges, a little dirty, and completely oblivious. It was going to have to be an incredibly subtle campaign if this was going to succeed. Neither was the kind to take being manipulated like this well, but neither of them had been subjected to the subtle scheming of a matchmaking kunoichi. She was determined to see it through, if it took her years.

She suddenly leaned out of Haku's lap to grab the startled Hotaru's hands, pulling them to her chest as her green eyes sparkled with new life. "We have to go get you new clothes when we get back. On Sasuke…he promised, and we're going to milk him for that. I want to show you all the girl stuff you've been missing! We can start as soon as we get back!"

The orange-clad ninja's eyes widened a bit in alarm. "Can't we go slowly? A bit at a time…?" She started trying to squirm away from the other girl.

The growing panic in the other girl's eyes almost got Sakura laughing again, but she managed to hold it in. She grinned at Haku. "You'll help, right?"

The boy giggled and replied, "I think I probably have a better idea of how to be a girl than our lovely Hotaru-chan."

The blond groaned softly. "What have I gotten myself into? Wait, lovely?!"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The remainder of the trip back to Konoha the following day was uneventful, but no one was surprised when a squad of ANBU met them at the gate to escort Zabuza and Haku off to an interview with the Hokage. Hotaru was upset at the necessity, but understood it. The pair were ninja defected from another village after all…though she was sure from the bits and pieces that she had caught from conversations between Kakashi and Zabuza on the way home that they had compelling reasons for that.

She was sure the old man would be reasonable, but all the same she gave her teammates a cheerful wave and a foxy grin "I'm gonna go have a few words with the old man…I'll see you all around tomorrow!"

She turned to follow the ANBU when Sakura ran to catch up with her. "Wait! I want to go shopping later tonight. Are you going to free?"

The blond blinked and nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah, I guess…but do we really have to go tonight?" She scratched the back of her head and wrinkled her nose at the thought.

Sasuke sauntered up behind Sakura and snorted. "We're burning those jumpsuits tomorrow, dead last, so if you want something to wear we'll be going out tonight."

She smirked a little and replied sweetly, "Are you sure you're feeling up to it, bastard? You hit your head pretty hard last night. Maybe you should rest!"

His eyes narrowed at that, but he replied in that infuriatingly indifferent tone of his, "Well, I wouldn't have hit my head if you weren't such a klutz."

She drew a deep breath, her eyes flaring with fire as she opened her mouth to give him her opinion…her candid opinion…of him, when Zabuza cleared his throat behind them. "Cute as the fighting is, kids, I wanna get this interview over with. Save the lover's spat for later." Much to the amusement of the group, though the ANBU hid it well, the former Mist jounin walked over before the blond could explode and picked her up, throwing her over a shoulder and ignoring her fighting and loud protests. He nodded to their escort. "We would have been here all night. Let's get this over with." He walked off with the blond screaming bloody murder, not even looking back.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She wasn't happy to be left outside while the Hokage conducted his interview with her friends, but her reasons for wanting to talk to him didn't involve them anyways. She waited somewhat less than patiently for them to emerge from the office, as she knew they would eventually. When they finally did she looked up at them, her eyes immediately taking in the new forehead protectors. She leapt up and grinned. "I told ya it would be okay! The old man hasn't gone senile yet, so I knew he'd see you belong here!"

The Demon watched in amusement as the blond bounced, and replied, "There are restrictions for now. We're nin from another village, defectors…they don't trust us."

Hotaru flashed him a foxy grin and added, "Yet! It'll come! Anyway, my turn with the old man. Wish me luck!" She dashed in without a backward glance, leaving the new Leaf-nin shaking their heads before they were escorted off to their new quarters.

She slammed the door shut behind her and watched the Sandaime, her eyes wild with mischief as she approached his desk. He watched her warily, but said serenely, "Naruto, to what do I…"

She cut him off with a grin. "Hotaru." Her blue eyes were alive with conflicting emotions, but the dominant one was her pleasure at the shock on his face.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, what?" It was clear that he didn't understand what she meant, or if she was even serious.

She smirked and drawled, "My name is Hotaru, old man. And I was just telling Zabuza-san that you're not senile yet! Way to prove me wrong!"

She started laughing her ass off when the twitch in his forehead started. She loved getting to him, though getting to Sasuke was quickly becoming a comparable pastime. He coughed and said calmly, "Really. I could have sworn that your name was Naruto. That is what your identification says, after all."

She chuckled and replied off-handedly, "Well, I guess we'd better fix that then, huh? Wouldn't want my fellow ninja mistaking me for a _boy_ or something!"

The elderly Hokage's forehead twitched again, but then his expression softened. "You're sure, Hotaru?" His concern was evident.

She sighed and flopped gracelessly into the chair in front of his desk. "Yeah, I'm sure, old man. I already told Zabuza-san, Haku-chan and my team." She wrinkles her nose. "I'm being dragged out for new clothes when I'm done here. I swear the trip had better involve ramen."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose I had better give you some money then."

She snorted. "Sasuke offered to pay, the bastard. Anyway, that's not all I wanted to talk to you about…" She pinned him with a glare. "I still owe you a talk about those stupid D-rank missions."

He started out in a placating tone, "Now Hotaru, ninja for generations have used those missions as a valuable learning…"

She leaned forward and slammed her fists down on his desk…his ANBU guards that were outside knew better than to react to that by now though. Her eyes were passionate as she cut him off. "Screw generations of ninja. Pure shit…giving the genin the D-ranked missions are a waste of time and Konoha's resources."

He regarded her calmly, and replied in an amused and slightly condescending tone, "Oh? And you know of a better way, Hotaru?"

She gave him a cocky grin and leaned back in her seat. "Damned right I do…which just proves we should have had a female Hokage a long time ago. Give the D-ranked missions to the Academy students." At his startled look she leaned forward again, her expression determined. "Look, giving the Academy students the D-rank missions will serve several purposes. If you devote say…2 hours every day of time from students in the final three years of the Academy, split them into the normal teams of 3, it will give them practical experience with running missions in a safe environment, not to mention experience writing mission reports and all the other junk that comes with doing missions and great teamwork building. That will give the future genin a step up, and free up your genin to handle C-ranked missions, leaving more chuunin for the B-ranked, and leaving you overall with more ninja to work with. I've seen the times you've struggled to fill all the missions that have come in. We're busy right?"

The Hokage opened his mouth for a moment to protest…but then shut it again and looked thoughtful. "You know, that _would_ be a better allocation of resources. And you're correct about the practical experience. I'll have to call a meeting of the Academy teachers. We'll have to work this into the curriculum…" He grabbed a scroll and started muttering distractedly. After a few minutes she cleared her throat. He waved a hand without looking up. "Thank you, Hotaru. We'll take care of your identification when you've gotten rid of that horrid jumpsuit. You may go."

She groaned. "Not you too! Everyone's against my jumpsuit!" She let out a very forlorn sigh. "See you later then, old man!" She headed out to go get changed, figuring that she might as well take the jumpsuit off before they ripped it off her or something equally horrifying.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She had spent nearly a half hour picking out something to wear from her meager wardrobe…well, meager without her beloved jumpsuits anyways. She finally decided on a pair of baggy black cargo pants, an orange t-shirt, and her ninja sandals. She took her shower and then tied her forehead protector around her neck. She decided to leave her weapon pouch and thigh holster at home, but the bit of metal was too precious to her to just leave somewhere. She stared into her mirror and frowned…she didn't really look much like a girl, as far as she was concerned. The wild, spiky hair just didn't help at all…but she couldn't picture herself with long hair anymore.

She was startled out of her brooding by a knock on her door, and went to answer it quickly. She wasn't surprised to find Sasuke and Sakura waiting for her, though she was a little surprised that they had changed too. Sasuke was wearing a pair of cargos as well, though not as baggy as hers, and a button-down blue shirt. He had left his forehead protector at home. She thought he didn't look bad. Sakura was dressed in a red top with spaghetti straps and a white skirt that stopped at mid thigh, her hair tied back with a white ribbon instead of her forehead protector.

The kunoichi looked her over with an expression of exasperation. "Does every outfit you own have orange in it? Well, at least it's not the jumpsuit. C'mon, let's go get something to eat first. I know this great little place with wonderful sushi!"

Hotaru smirked. "Oh no…if I'm going to put up with this…_shopping_ shit, you owe me ramen. Ichiraku ramen. Or the whole deal's off and I'm going back to my…"

Sasuke snorted and nodded behind her into the apartment. "No going back, dead last."

She whirled in time to see Kakashi's wave, his smiley exclamation of, "Yo!"…and him disappearing with every jumpsuit she owned. She turned back to the guilty looking Sakura and calm Sasuke, pointing her finger at the raven accusingly. "You arranged this, you bastard! What am I supposed to wear now?!"

The pink-haired kunoichi giggled and slid her arm around Hotaru's. "Whatever we buy you? Let's go get that ramen then…"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She was overwhelmed by the sheer variety of clothing that Sakura expected her to pick through and try on, and that was just civilian clothing. Honestly, how much clothing does one person need? There were dozens of tops, in every color except orange, in every style appropriate to a girl. She'd fought to get orange included, but the other girl seemed determined to keep her away from the color. She even appealed to the Uchiha, but he agreed with the kunoichi for a change. She sullenly picked out a dozen tops in blue, red, smoky grey and black. She refused to pick anything white though…if Sakura thought it was difficult to hide in orange, white was ten times worse.

The next argument was over bottoms. Hotaru would have been content with more pairs of pants identical to the ones she was wearing, but apparently that wasn't good enough for the kunoichi. She insisted that the blond try on many different things, including shorts, several different styles of pants…and skirts. She had never worn a skirt in her life…she had paled and refused when Sakura had held up a black one similar to the simple style she was wearing. It was finally Sasuke's comment that he didn't know she was such a coward, afraid of a little piece of clothing, which got her to try it on. Sakura had handed her a dark blue, sleeveless, tunic length shirt in the Chinese style, with buttons running diagonally from the collar to her side. Once she finally had the outfit on, she stared at herself in the mirror…it was hopeless. She really just looked like a boy dressed in a skirt with that hair…

She had been staring at herself for several minutes when Sakura knocked on the door. "Come out, Hotaru, we want to see how it looks on you!" She opened the door slowly, standing there awkwardly with her eyes shut, expecting laughter. She heard someone take a deep breath, and braced herself for the worst.

"You look…nice." The raven's voice was cool, but she could hear the slight waver in it. Her eyes popped open in surprise to see Sasuke looking anywhere but her, and Sakura grinning…but in a reassuring kind of way.

She stared at them in disbelief for a moment before reaching up to cover her greatest pain. "B-But…my hair. It's too short…it looks all wrong…" Her teammates were both startled when she burst into tears, never having seen her cry about anything. It was Sakura's turn to hold her as she cried, though she fought half-heartedly as she was pulled into the other girl's embrace. She hadn't cried about her hair, or about anything, since the day it had been cut. She'd sworn then that she wasn't going to be that weak over something so silly, but here she was again. The pain was old, but deep…it had been festering for so long under an indifferent attitude that was completely out of self-defense.

When the brief, but intense, storm of tears had passed, she had to admit that she felt a little better. She sniffled a little, and was completely stunned as she was shoved into Sasuke's arms…he froze, just as startled as she was. The temperamental kunoichi that was their teammate commanded him, "Take care of her for a few minutes, I have some ideas for her hair. Go get this stuff paid for and meet me across the street," and then swept off, seemingly oblivious to the shock she had just caused.

It was almost a full minute of stunned incomprehension before she shoved herself out of Sasuke's arms, her face burning. "I-I'll just go put my clothes back on…"

His face was slightly flushed as he recovered, snorting as he picked up the rest of her choices. "Don't bother. We can put them in the bags with all of this and you can just wear that out." He stalked off to the register, leaving her staring at his back in confusion. What a bastard! She grabbed her clothing with a growl, following after him with every intention of giving him a piece of her mind…but stopping when she realized she wasn't wearing any shorts under this skirt to keep her from being exposed in the spar that was sure to follow. Damn this girl stuff!

So she joined him at the register in stiff silence, and then followed him out and across the street. She could keep the peace for one evening…just long enough to get him to replace the wardrobe that he conspired to burn anyways. She took her half of the bags without comment. The store across the street turned out to be a shop of women's formal clothing, with kimonos ranging from simple, solid colors to elaborately patterned silk, and all the accessories a girl could ever wish.

Sakura rushed over to them when they entered, her hands full of tiny silver hairclips. She grinned cheerfully at the fuming pair. "Give those to Sasuke, Hotaru. You need something formal for festivals, and I'd like to try some things with your hair too. The shop owner is a friend of my mother's, so she'd made a bit of space in the back for us so that I can trim the bottom a bit…she's got some styling gel to try too! We'll have to get you some of your own if it looks nice." She took the bags out of the blond's hands and gave them to Sasuke, who glared pointedly at her…but she blithely ignored the prodigy-turned-pack-mule, dragging the bewildered Hotaru off to the back.

Sakura refused to let the blond look into the mirror until she was finished. She used a sharp pair of scissors to trim the bottom of Hotaru's hair shorter in the back, and then wet it so that she could brush the top and sides back. After several minutes of tugging, Sakura stilling her head with annoyed exclamations, and a bit of gel…she was finally allowed to look into the mirror. She was stunned by what greeted her.

In the front, Sakura had somehow convinced the front layer of her unruly bangs to hang down over her forehead, giving her bangs a sort of hanging, spiky effect. The remainder of the top and the sides had been pulled back into the silver hairclips, which formed a sort of head band. The back of her hair had been deliberately spiked with the gel, making it look like the wild blond hair was being held back by the hair clips as it spiked up behind them. She…liked it. She looked like a girl, but somehow still looked like her at the same time. She looked up at Sakura with a grateful expression. "Can you teach me how to do this?"

The kunoichi nodded in satisfaction. "I sure can, when we take your stuff home. It turned out nicely…and those hairclips are steel, they're not going anywhere in a fight." She grinned at the blond's startled expression. "Kunoichi do have _some_ secrets. They come in other colors too, coated in a sort of enamel that's made to withstand the rigors of combat. I'm sure you'll test that to the full extent." She giggled.

Hotaru chuckled and stood. "We should go rescue the bastard from my clothing…do I really need something from here? I wouldn't have any clue how to wear it…" She looked almost wistful as she said that. She wouldn't mind something from here, but really…that was asking a lot, as most of these were in the high price range. And she still had to pick out something she could wear on missions.

Sakura patted her arm. "Every girl needs something formal, Hotaru. Don't worry; I'm sure we'll find something that suits you." The kunoichi dragged her out of the back. They were a little confused when they discovered that Sasuke wasn't where they left him, but quickly found him staring at a kimono. As they approached, he turned to them with an odd expression and said abruptly to Hotaru, "You're getting this one."

She was about to object to the Uchiha dictating her choice of clothing when Sakura's gasp prompted her to take a closer look at the raven's choice. Her objections died the moment she saw it…the gorgeous kimono could have been made for her. It started out orange at the top, blending to red as it traveled down until it was a red so dark it was nearly black at the knees. From knee to ankle it was patterned with flames in orange, red and gold. The flowing, floor length sleeves matched, shading from orange to red-black at the elbows and matching flames edging them. The obi was gold, with the outlines of vibrant crimson flames stitched lovingly into it. And the size was perfect…little, if any, alteration would be needed for it to fit her perfectly. She nodded mutely as Sasuke imperiously gestured the shop owner over and explained that they were getting that one, plus whatever hair accessories and other baubles that Sakura saw fit to purchase.

She was a little overwhelmed by it all by the time they reached the shop that contained specialty ninja clothing, all made in studier fabrics with plenty of reinforcement. She snapped out of it though when Sakura tried to hand her a top that exposed a good portion of her midriff. "No…nothing that shows of a lot of skin. It has to be comfortable, functional and have orange in it somewhere." And from there, she refused to be deterred. She'd compromised the whole day, with the exception of the kimono, but this was what she'd be wearing during all the important times of her future. She wasn't budging on this one.

They finally came to an agreement almost an hour later, and only because Sasuke was getting annoyed enough to take Hotaru's side in her arguments. They decided on calf-length black pants with cargo pockets running down the left leg, an orange, form hugging sleeveless shirt and a black jacket. Colors were more than half the argument, but she'd won out in the end…mostly. They refused to let her get the orange jacket. They bought several changes of each piece…a shinobi didn't want to carry much at most times, but it was also inadvisable to wear the same thing day in and out when some ninja had an acute enough sense of smell to detect unwashed human.

By the time she was dropped off at home with all of her new clothing, she was exhausted. She wasn't overly surprised to find the rest of her male clothing gone…even the bag that had the ones she'd been wearing when she left no longer had those in it. It seemed that they intended her to make a clean break…the old man was going to laugh his ass off at her tomorrow.

**Author's Note:** I was shocked to find the 18 reviews for the previous chapter…you guys make me so happy! *swoons* Your support makes this very easy to write for me! I'll admit it; I'm having fun writing this story. So much so that I've pretty much got it planned up to the end, and well into the sequel…so, I'd like to thank everyone that reviewed and added this to their alerts again…you guys are what make this all worth it!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...what a sad thing to make me tell you *sniffs*

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Ten**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru was bored as she waited outside of the Hokage's office early the next morning with a new identification application to be approved. She was sure that Kakashi would be late, as usual, so she knew she'd have time. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited her turn…and was surprised to see Kakashi and the other jounin-sensei come streaming out of the Hokage's office. "Hey, Kaka-sensei, I'm gonna be late! New ID time." She waved her application at him cheerfully and slipped into the old man's office before her sensei could say a word.

She pressed herself against the back wall of the office until the last of the jounin had left, ignoring the strange looks she was getting. When the door finally closed she sauntered over to Sarutobi's desk and slammed her application down on it with a grin. "Here ya go, old man!" She was dressed in her new shinobi gear with her forehead protector in its customary place, but her hair pulled back into the matching black clips and spiked around it. Sakura had insisted that she had to coordinate before she left, so she had replaced the blue cloth of the forehead protector with black and dug a pair of black shinobi sandals out of the many bags, putting them out with Hotaru's clothes. Her thigh holster was in the usual spot on her right leg, and her weapon pouch was hanging from the back of her right hip.

She smirked a little as his eyes bugged out slightly at her altered appearance, but nearly pouted when he replied calmly, "I should have known there would be orange in there somewhere. You look good though. Perhaps the young men will think so too."

She snorted and countered disdainfully, "Like I need them. I'm not some dumb kunoichi, old man…don't expect me to go all fangirl just cuz I'm telling people the truth." She tapped her application. "Let's get on with this…bad enough that Kaka-sensei is going to beat me to the meeting spot."

Her application was signed and stamped in short order, and Sarutobi watched as she dashed out to get her new ID made before she went to her team meeting. He sighed and turned his head slightly to the presence behind him. "Are you satisfied?"

The other man stepped out of hiding and chuckled. "So that's her, huh? You say she was masquerading as a boy up until now? She's certainly turned out in interesting ways. Very much her father's daughter. I'll look forward to teaching her."

The elderly Hokage smiled slightly. "I'll leave the timing and the circumstances up to you, Jiraiya. I'm sure you'll find the right time."

The toad hermit grinned. "Of course, sensei. You can trust me with her." The sannin disappeared from the office silently, leaving his former sensei to snort and roll his eyes before returning to his paperwork.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru could smell the burning clothing as she rounded the corner that brought the bridge into sight. She sped up, sprinting to bring the small bonfire into view and yelled, "Hey! What the hell, you were serious?!"

Sakura and Sasuke were standing on opposite sides of it, watching every piece of 'Naruto's' clothing burn, orange boxers included. She stopped when she reached them, seething resentfully. The clothing was nearly ash though, so there wasn't much she could do. Sakura turned to her and pointed, yelling, "You're late!"

She looked around quickly for Kakashi, and was surprised to find that she'd beaten him there. She scratched the back of her head and chuckled nervously. "Ah, I was getting new ID…couldn't exactly use the old one, right? And I still got here before sensei?"

A voice behind her chuckled. "What's that? You still beat me here?" She screeched and just about jumped, whirling around with a kunai in hand. The silver-haired jounin gave her a smiley look. "Now, is that any way to greet your beloved sensei, Hotaru-chan?"

She growled and glared up into his visible eye. "You're going to stop calling me that, or I'm going to arrange for you to lose some very…important pieces."

He tsked at her. "Now, now, keep that up and no one's going to believe you're a lovely girl!"

She grumbled, "And that's a bad thing _how_?" She turned to stare balefully at the nearly finished bonfire of clothing, and could hear Sakura's giggling.

She was determined to ignore them all, but Kakashi's next announcement got her immediate attention. "Okay kids, time to be serious. Hokage-sama has decided that Konoha is going to be moving to a new mission system. As a result, genin teams will no longer be handling D-ranked missions unless an injury on the team prevents the team from working outside the village. Students in the final three years of the Academy will be handling the D-rank missions from today forward to give them practical experience." Her eyes practically bugged out as she heard the jounin tell the team exactly what she had proposed to the old man. She knew he'd been excited by the idea, but she had no idea he'd move this _fast_ with it! She turned quickly as he continued, "This, of course, has left us with a bit of a gap. The genin coming out of the Academy will be prepared to go right into C-ranked missions, but not all of our current genin have sufficient experience for that. So, to make up the shortfall Hokage-sama is giving us a month of training time in the hope that strength will help to fill in where your experience lacks." At that moment, a familiar former Mist-nin came sauntering around the corner towards the bridge. "Ah! And he's right on time…"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and Hotaru snorted. "If he's on time doesn't that mean you planned to be late, sensei?"

Kakashi somehow managed to look sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck as he replied, "It couldn't be helped! Hokage-sama only told us this morning, and I had to go find him…"

Zabuza stopped in front of the group with a wicked chuckle. "Told them yet, Hatake-san?"

The other jounin waved his hand a bit. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. Sakura, you're going to spend the month training with Zabuza-san and Haku-chan, since we're sure you'll benefit the most from one-on-one training. Hotaru and Sasuke will be staying with me. We'll still meet in the morning for some teamwork training; afternoons will be for individualized lessons. And since its afternoon…" He shooed the startled Sakura in the Demon's direction.

Hotaru frowned slightly as the kunoichi walked off with Zabuza. Why Sakura? Okay, so the kunoichi needed a lot of work, but she wasn't exactly sure that she wanted to spend every afternoon for a month with only the bastard and the pervert. It certainly didn't bode well for her sanity…she brought her attention back to the present as the boys started off towards their favorite training ground, with Kakashi explaining what he wanted to start with. "We're actually going to start every afternoon with some more mundane training. We're going to work on some strength, stamina and speed training for both of you. Sasuke's strength and stamina are average, but speed is his specialty. I'd like to take the time to hone that. Hotaru, you're well above average for physical strength and stamina, but your speed is well below average. We're going to have to correct that, since your ability to absorb massive injury isn't always going to save you."

They reached the clearing by the poles at that point, where Kakashi had obviously preceded them by the look of the equipment that was already laid out. He walked over to the equipment with them, and pointed to two sets of weights. "We're going to take a page from an old friend's book, and do all of your training with these. In fact, for the next month I'd like you to wear these continuously when you're awake. When their weight no longer hinders you we'll add a little more." He pointed to a set that was orange as she groaned unenthusiastically. "Those are for you, Hotaru. I had these colored so that the two of you won't get them mixed up when you have to take them off, since yours are heavier than Sasuke's. I also had your fashion sense in mind." The smirk was obvious in his voice.

She could have throttled him. "Why are mine heavier? And why would we get them mixed up if we're taking them off at home?" The perverted little look he gave them just about made her scream, but she opted to pick up the weights instead, and was instantly startled by how heavy they were. "How are we supposed to move in these?! Are you crazy?"

He patted her head. "Yours are heavier because you're stronger than he is. You'll get used to them, that's the point. The heavier ones go on your legs, Hotaru…Sasuke, yours are evenly weighted." The raven looked none too happy, but he got the point of it and picked up his blue colored weights immediately. Kakashi made a little shooing motion as soon as they both had the weights on under their clothing. "Twenty laps around the clearing to start, kids. We'll work on some taijutsu after that."

She hefted the weights on her arms and legs experimentally and sighed. Not as bad as she thought once they were on, but still enough to slow her down significantly. As she fell in beside her teammate, she grumbled to him. "Are these really a good starting weight? We're gonna be frigging exhausted…and he expects us to spar after this?"

The Uchiha snorted and gave her a scornful look. "Are you really that thrown off by a little weight? It's just twenty laps…don't tell me that's going to tire you out, dead last."

She rolled her eyes at him, picking up her speed a touch despite the way her muscles protested. She was used to measuring her pace, but she wasn't going to let the asshole get ahead of her. "I don't know if you noticed, but he said that my weights are heavier than yours."

Sasuke shrugged indifferently. "He also said that you're physically stronger…would have been stupid to give you ones that weigh the same as mine. And stupid is something Kakashi is not."

She growled and sped up a little more…she was determined to leave him behind at that point, if he was going to be an ass. She was panting and practically dripping when she was finally finished, but Sasuke wasn't in any better shape so she felt somewhat relieved. As she finished Kakashi looked up from his little book of smut. "You're done? Good…you can have fifteen minutes to rest, but don't let yourself cool down too much. We're going to work on a taijutsu exercise after this." She groaned softly, but started pacing in front off the poles…slowly enough to cool down, but not so much that she'd stiffen up.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura had no idea what to say as she followed Zabuza away to another training ground. How had she managed to land private tutoring, with one of the former Seven Swordsmen and his apprentice no less? She kind of felt bad. After all, Hotaru, or even Sasuke, deserved their time more than she did. But she kept her opinion to herself as she followed along in silence.

When they reached the training ground, an open field off of a small pond with a very pretty waterfall, she found that Haku was already waiting there for them. Though the boy was dressed in combat gear, he still looked incredibly, beautifully feminine. No matter how many times she saw the boy, it never ceased to surprise her that he was in fact a _boy_. She followed Zabuza over to the edge of the pond, where Haku was seated. He sat down abruptly, and gestured for her to have a seat as well. "I guess you're probably wondering why you're here, and not one of your teammates. I'd like to clear one thing up right away. They didn't ask us to train you…we asked if we could have you for the month."

The kunoichi felt her eyes go wide. "_Me_? Why me? The other two are so much stronger…"

Haku reached out to take her hand with a kind smile. "You have a great deal of wasted potential, Sakura-chan. You're graceful, precise, you have fantastic recall abilities. Zabuza-sama decided that you would be perfect to learn my style of taijutsu, and I agree."

She opened her mouth to protest, but the Demon cut her off gruffly. "If your affinity is compatible, we're also going to teach you some basic Suiton jutsu. Advanced training can come later, but we're going to work you hard this month to get you on the way to catching up to your teammates."

She looked thoughtful for a moment…but then nodded and smiled. "I would like that. Thank you, Zabuza-sensei, Haku-chan."

Haku giggled softly. "You already know how to walk on water, right?" At her nod, Zabuza's smirk was positively sadistic, but it was Haku who continued, "Well, we'll work on two things at once then. Let's start with twenty laps…around the edge of the pond's surface. When you're finished we can do some theory work on anatomy to bring you up to speed on how senbon are best used." She could feel horrified expression on her face, but from the look on Zabuza's he'd probably get up and drive her ahead of him if she didn't comply. She didn't like the thought of that…so her expression hardened into one of determination, and she got up to do her laps.

Haku leaned in against Zabuza's chest as they watched Sakura on the pond. He commented softly, "You're right, the will is there. We just have to help her bring it to the surface. How clever to see that, Zabuza-sama."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Fifteen minutes later saw Kakashi dragging his nose from his book. "We're going to try something new this whole week. At the moment you're both about equal in speed, due to the weights. However, you both have weak points that we need to work on. Hotaru, while your aggressive offence is commendable, your defense sucks. You rely on your ability to ignore injury and heal quickly too much, and leave yourself ridiculously open at times. One of these days someone is going to take one of those openings and kill you, like Zabuza nearly did. Sasuke, your speed is a great asset, but you rely on it too much. You don't have much practice with opponents that are the same speed as you are, and your offensive taijutsu can be sloppy as a result." He stood and looked over them both, evaluating how tired they were by their run. "Luckily for both of you, we can work on both of those problems at the same time!"

Well, that didn't sound good…she glanced at Sasuke, but found his expression to be maddeningly indifferent. She had the biggest urge to wipe that indifference from his face, but now didn't seem to be the time or the place. She turned to Kakashi with an annoyed edge to her voice and said, "Oh? How we going to do that?"

The look in the jounin's eye became gleeful. He pointed at Sasuke. "He…is going to attack, no weapons but full out. And you…are going to defend. _Only_ defend…you may dodge, block or deflect his blows, but _not_ return them. You may not make any attacks of your own. He will try his best to hit you, and you will try your best not to be hit directly."

She raised an eyebrow and frowned. "And what good is that going to do either of us? I don't really see the point…"

Kakashi chuckled softly. "It's not going to be as easy as you think, lovely Hotaru." Her eyebrow twitched, but she let the comment pass. "Even at decreased speed, his offensive skill is more than enough to find many of the openings you constantly present. He's going to hit you a great deal to begin with…but not strong enough to seriously injure you since he is without a weapon. That will teach you the hard way what openings you need to cover, and your reflexes will adjust accordingly. Pain is a good teacher, especially with you. As for him…as you learn to cover your openings he'll have to try harder to hit you, which will tighten his offensive style. And as you're both doing this, you'll be learning to cope with moving under the extra weight, giving your muscles a workout in different ways than they would get with straight strength training. Once you can move at full speed under the weights, we'll increase them and begin the process again, which will increase your speed when the weights are finally removed."

She sighed softly and nodded, moving to take her place in the open section of the clearing. As Sasuke joined her, she wondered if they were going to survive the week.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura had never had to cram so hard in her life. She was exhausted by her chakra consuming run, but they didn't let her rest…not mentally anyways. She had always known that human anatomy was incredibly complicated, but Haku seemed gently determined to drill it all into her in short order. Her memory was excellent, but she found that exhaustion just wasn't conductive to the learning process. Finally, after Haku had explained the acupuncture points in the neck for the third consecutive time without it taking, she burst out, "Why the hell are we doing this _now_? I'm never going to remember it like this!"

Zabuza was about twenty feet away from where they were sitting, running through a graceful kata with that mammoth sword of his. He chuckled maliciously, and replied, "Do you think you're always going to be fresh and at full strength when trying to memorize important information, little girl? This is a lesson too…there are going to be times when you're filthy, exhausted, and maybe even in the middle of a pitched battle. It may become necessary to use that great recall of yours to memorize important information and destroy the scroll it's on to keep it out of enemy hands. It's easier to defend yourself than the scroll, and if you can get it done without the enemy's notice then anything they do from that point on short of killing you all is pointless, since you'll all fight equally to get the team out of the situation. And you can't lose a scroll that no longer exists. It's nice that you're not willing to put up with shit, girl, but this is something ya have to learn."

Well, that certainly shut her up, and made a chilling amount of sense. She had never thought about it that way, but there was no question that he was right…so she sighed and looked back down at the scroll. She had no idea how she was going to survive the week at this pace.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It was just before dinner when Kakashi finally called a halt to their 'spar'. She had been entirely wrong about the idea that simply defending would be too easy…as Kakashi had pointed out, she had an astounding number of openings in her defensives, and she was quite sure that Sasuke had hit them all. A dozen times each. She was one huge bruise, and exhausted simply because her healing abilities were working overtime at the moment…of course, they wouldn't do a thing about the stiffness she was sure to feel come morning. She got the feeling that they had only actually stopped because Sasuke looked about ready to drop though. Her stamina was far greater than his, and she probably could have taken an hour or two more, but it was clear he couldn't.

They both dropped to the ground panting as Kakashi wandered out of the clearing. She found the energy to drag her head up to look him over appraisingly. Her comment was a little blunt, but she was far too tired to play around with tact. "You look like shit, bastard. I'm taking you home."

His apathetic reply of, "Hn," was answer enough for her, and it was with moderate difficulty that she dragged herself off the ground and then reached down to drag him up. She settled his arm around her shoulders, holding it with one hand while her other arm slipped around his waist to steady him against her. She almost staggered under the additional weight as she started moving, but gritted her teeth and got herself moving at a reasonable pace. "Kami-sama, _walk_ damnit! I'm not dragging you the whole way there, you moron!"

He managed to get his legs working, taking some of the weight off of her. His reply was tired, with an edge of mild annoyance. "How are you even still moving, much less carrying me?"

She focused on putting one foot in front of the other, rather pleased that she'd managed to drive some emotion out of him finally. She was beginning to think he'd become an ice prince, the arrogant bastard. "Because I have to? How the hell are you going to make it home if I didn't, huh? I wasn't going to just _leave_ you there!" She groaned. "This had better be worth it, I swear…"

They made it across the bridge and into the village proper without incident, and Sasuke was directing her towards his apartment when they heard an appreciative whistle from behind them. A familiar voice yelled, "Hey, Uchiha, I didn't know you had a girlfriend! Cute too! I thought you were trying to scare all the girls off?"

Hotaru stopped, her eye twitching…if she'd bothered to look, she would have found Sasuke's eye twitching too. She turned them around, yelling, "You had seriously better not have been checking me out, Inuzuka Kiba!" just as Sasuke grated out, "She's not my girlfriend!"

Kiba smirked at them and started to say, "Well, if you don't want her, Uchiha…" and then stared at them in shock for a moment, with Akamaru yipping at him softly from the top of his head. His eyes widened and he suddenly took a closer look at Hotaru. "Naruto? Why the hell are you dressed like a girl? You make a bet with the Ice Prince and lose?"

Hotaru's eyes narrowed, and the fire and renewed energy in them clearly put Kiba off, driving him back a few involuntary steps. She was just about to drop her burden and kick the living shit out of the dog boy when she felt Sasuke's hand tighten on her shoulder. He leaned in and said softly in her ear, "The mutt isn't worth the energy, and I'm too tired to get home alone."

She growled softly and turned them around, dragging Sasuke along abruptly while quite obviously seething. The surge of anger was lending her false energy, and she intended to put it to good use. She could hear Kiba's stammered request for them to wait up from behind her, but chose to ignore it. They were at the corner when he finally caught up with them, ridiculously nervous. "Hey man, I didn't mean anything. If you lost a bet, it's no…"

She snapped, "There was no bet. I've been a girl the whole time." If Sasuke's fingers hadn't been digging painfully into her into her shoulder she might have forgotten she was carrying him.

Kiba looked startled at that. "A…girl? You mean…" He just about choked. "…all this time. Swimming, sharing bathrooms, change rooms…you've been…" His cheeks were suddenly almost as red as the marks on them. "What the hell!"

She blinked, her anger forgotten in a sudden mood shift. "I never thought about that. I've seen every guy in our year nearly naked…I suppose that's supposed to be every girl's dream, but it never seemed weird to me." She sounded thoughtful, and was completely oblivious to the fact that her burden was blushing madly and glaring hard enough at Kiba to kill him if mere looks could kill.

The dog-nin gasped out, "How…how could you not…_think_ about it?" He glared back at Sasuke, though his glare was really no match for the raven's.

She shrugged and chuckled. "Well…I was young when I became 'Naruto', and by the time I was old enough for that shit I was already so used to seeing you guys…" She turned to raise an eyebrow. "Anyway, time for you to screw off. I'm still mad, but I'm also tired…Kaka-sensei is a slave driver." She groaned. "And I still have to make it home after this!"

Kiba frowned and looked them over. "Yeah, you two are in rough shape…I'll help you take the Ice Prince home and then take you home myself."

She brightened at that, and was just about to agree enthusiastically when her burden sudden snapped, "She's staying the night with me."

Shock quickly turned to anger. She replied bitingly, "Well, I'm so glad you asked _me_ about that before arbitrarily deciding that I was staying with you. Thank you, _Sasuke_."

The raven snorted. "Do you even know what 'arbitrarily' means, dead last? You're staying the night with me. My place is closer to the training ground." His grip on her was getting tighter all the time.

She snarled, "That _so_ helps your case there," and then turned to Kiba, who was quickly getting over his shock…and grinning broadly at the way the pair of them were fighting. "I'd love to let you take me home, Kiba…but if you do anything stupid I'll beat the shit out of you, tired or not."

Sasuke seethed the whole way to his apartment, which just baffled her. What the hell was he going on about? It was only _Kiba_…did the raven really want her to stay the night that badly? He was clearly exhausted though, so much so that she had to fumble his keys out of his pocket and unlock his door herself. It occurred to her then that if she didn't feed the bastard he probably wouldn't, or couldn't, feed himself. She sighed and turned to Kiba as she pushed the door open. "Look man, I appreciate the offer to take me home, but I'm gonna have to stay after all. The bastard is useless without me."

She ignored the way the raven bristled at that as she watched Kiba's face flash with disappointment for a moment before he chuckled. "The famous Uchiha is useless without you…that's something to tell the guys! Well, later…wait, what am I supposed to call you now?"

She smirked a little. "My name is Hotaru…later Kiba!" She dragged the unresisting Uchiha into the apartment with her, shutting the door quickly so she could glare at him. "Now, what was all that shit about? Kami, it was just Kiba!"

He wretched himself away from her and stumbled over to his couch, snarling, "Exactly, it was Kiba. Didn't you _see_ the way mutt-boy was looking at you?"

She rolled her eyes and made her way towards his little kitchenette. "Don't you think you're overreacting bastard? You're just pissed because he thought you were my boyfriend." She started scrounging up some sandwiches, amazed at the variety in the fridge. "Well, what do you know…Sakura was right. _Sasuke-kun_ does know how to cook!"

Sasuke started out with, "I am not pissed because mutt…" and then his look turned to confusion. "What?"

She shot him a quick grin. "Orientation day, Sakura asked if I knew how to cook. I told her I didn't, and asked if she'd ever asked you that…she was sure you did, because you're 'perfect'." She snorted and then brought the sandwiches over, shoving one unceremoniously at the raven. "Her words, not mine. Eat." The last part was clearly an order, and she quickly started in on her first sandwich. As he looked down at the sandwich with disinterest she told him around a full mouth, "Eat, or I'm gonna stuff it down your throat."

He glared at her and said stiffly, "I'm not hungry." He went to put the sandwich back on the plate, but the dangerous glitter in her eyes stopped him.

She pointed at the sandwich and said sweetly, "You've done too much work to get away with not eating. I'm serious about stuffing it down your throat, Uchiha. You have until I'm finished my second to eat that one." She started into her second one as he snorted in disbelief and left his sandwich where it was. True to her word, the moment she was finished hers she picked up his and pulled it apart into bite-sized pieces. "Open up, bastard. If you don't eat something you'll be sick tomorrow." She held the first piece in front of his closed lips, staring him down stubbornly. Her grin when he finally opened his lips grudgingly was enormous. She said soothingly, "That's right…you'll feel much better after this and a bath, I promise!" She put the rest of the pieces on a plate and handed it to him. "Eat these. I'm going to run you a bath."

She moved slowly but surely to his bathroom, running the water into the tub nice and hot. She liked his bathroom…huge, neat, clean, and uncluttered. The tub was big enough for 3 or 4 people, sunk into the floor, and more than deep enough to get a full, thorough soak. She was looking forward to using it after him. She made sure the water was a good temperature before moving back out to the living room, where the raven was about finished his sandwich. He was pissed off, but unresisting, as she dragged him up and half carried him to the bathroom. She sat him down on the toilet while she checked the water with a pleased sigh. "I love your tub, Sasuke…I really do."

He started pulling off his weights with a grunt. "Why? It's a tub."

She snorted and moved to help him, placing the weights out of the way. "It's huge! Big enough to soak in…that must be so nice."

He raised an eyebrow as he helped her pull his shirt off. "Don't you have a tub?" He was blushing faintly, but he was far too sore to protest her help, especially since she wasn't making any sort of deal out of it.

She shook her head as she pulled him up so that he could get his bottoms off. "No, my apartment isn't even half this size…a quarter maybe. I have a shower, and most of the time my water isn't even hot."

None of that seemed to bother her, a fact that seemed to make the Uchiha angry. "Why wouldn't your water be hot? That's something your landlord should fix! Have you told him?"

She shrugged a little as she guided him into the tub, settling him on one of the seats under the surface. "Her, and she doesn't like me…its pretty common. I've never been able to find anywhere else though, so I take what I can get and ignore the rest." She bristled when he started glaring at her. "Stop that! They just don't like me, okay? It's not something I was ever able to figure out." Not quite a lie…she didn't figure it out, she'd been told.

He watched as she settled on the toilet seat and snapped, "Get in here, Hotaru…no point in running this thing twice. You're moving in here as soon as I can convince Kakashi to give us a day off."

She growled as she started stripping, thinking nothing of it. "I'm not moving in here. I don't take charity, Uchiha. I've been fine on my own for as long as I can remember, I don't need your pity."

He opened his mouth…and then closed it. Then his eyes narrowed as something obviously occurred to him. "They don't like you…that includes some of the ninja, doesn't it?" He winced slightly as she dropped her weights with a clang, staring at him. "That's why you can ignore killer intent like you do, isn't it?"

She sighed a little and stepped into the tub beside him, nodding. "Yeah, you got it right. I was very young when it started. It still happens. I'm surprised it didn't happen on the way here, with me dragging their precious prodigy along." There wasn't even a trace of bitterness in her tone. "I'm the village monster, Sasuke." It was a statement of fact, one that was horribly painful…but also true, which made it all the worse.

He snorted and stared at her through the rising steam. "You're no monster, Hotaru. If anything, I am…can't really be avenger without being a monster of some sort."

She grimaced at that. "You're not as much of one as you think…when we were right out of the Academy, maybe. But you're changing. There are many kinds of monsters, bastard…" She was tired now…so tired. She was fighting to keep her eyes open, but the heat of the water was so relaxing. She settled against the back of the tub, and her last conscious thought was how grateful she was that she'd decided to stay.

**Author's Note:** Sorry that one took so long guys…between work and nursing a cold I've been sleeping a lot, so this chapter was written over 3 days *pouts* It really made me feel so nice to see the stunning number of reviews for the last chapter though! I have a day off tomorrow, so I may try to get another chapter out after I've had a good amount of sleep. You guys make this story worth writing! *sniffles* Thank you so much for the support! And yes, I count adding this to your alert as support! Seeing that 105 people have this on their alerts makes me all warm and fuzzy. I love reviews, but I realize that not everyone likes to write one. Anyways, back to beddy for me!


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...what a scary thought…

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Eleven**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke sighed softly as the girl fell asleep next to him in the tub. He'd known she was more tired than she was letting on, but she was even worse than he was when it came to admitting to exhaustion. He frowned and propped her up against him, sliding an arm around her waist so that he could keep her from sliding into the tub and drowning herself. The last thing he needed right now was a stupid attempt to revive her. He was having enough problems keeping the conflict he was feeling from showing to her.

He had thought back in Wave when he had decided to help her that the decision to help her itself would have ended the confusion he was feeling. And it had…for less than two days. The problems had started up again when Sakura had shoved the girl into his arms in the clothing shop. The urge to comfort her had been unexpected, and pissed him off. It wasn't his job to comfort stupid girls! But…she was anything _but_ stupid. The mixed feelings in the formal shop had been strange too…the moment he had caught sight of that kimono he had the desire to see her in it. It was gorgeous, and it seemed to reflect everything she embodied…from her fierce will of fire, to her love of orange. It was bold and beautiful all at once.

Today had shown him a whole new side to her. He had known that she was dedicated to her dreams, but when she had spent that entire afternoon doing nothing but take hits it had occurred to him just how much of how she fought involved doing just _that_…whether it was a physical fight or a verbal one. The way she just casually referred to herself as a monster bothered him. How many years had people been telling her that? He had the strangest need to protect her from that, but he was well aware that it was impossible…even if she wouldn't completely resent him fighting her fight for her, he simply didn't have the time. His brother was out there, and it was going to take everything in him to catch up to his brother's skill level at any reasonable speed.

Her selflessness after the afternoon's grueling schedule had been unexpected as well. He couldn't imagine how she had that much more energy than he did, but he suspected that she had been standing on sheer willpower alone. The deep black and purple bruises as she had stepped into the tub with him had been a surprise. He knew she hadn't gotten through the afternoon unscathed, but she hadn't said a thing about it. She hadn't uttered a single word of complaint, and had been more concerned that he was taken care of. Which elicited yet more anger…how many times had she been in that condition, but never said a word? It had to be often…no one just shrugged off something like that unless it was a regular occurrence.

Not only that, but by the end of the afternoon his respect for her had taken a leap as well. Though he had started out the afternoon connecting on nearly every strike, she was managing to protect herself from more than half of them by the end of it. Her ability to adjust like that was phenomenal. He had been so sure to begin with that Kakashi was overestimating her ability, and that it was going to be a pointlessly easy week. He should have known better…and he did now. In a day or two he was going to have to work for _every_ hit he got in on her…and he was sure that was exactly what Kakashi had planned.

He wasn't sure where any of this was coming from. He'd had nothing but his hatred for so long; his will to kill his brother had driven him for years, filling the emptiness that came with being the only survivor of his brother's rampage. It was still there, but now it seemed to be sharing space with other less easily defined feelings. It somehow managed not to diminish one bit, but at the same time wasn't driving him with the same intensity as before. He wasn't sure what to make of those other feelings though, other than to realize that he couldn't allow them to get in the way. He had a goal to accomplish…but as long as he continued to advance this way he decided he could allow these other feelings to continue. Hopefully they would sort themselves out…

By the time the heat of the water had dulled the soreness of his muscles down to a reasonable pain he was about ready to fall asleep himself. He had yet to decide what to do with his sleeping friend though…friend. How odd…he'd never thought of anyone as a friend, not since the night Itachi left Konoha, but that was definitely what she was, and so was Sakura. Hotaru, though, was quickly becoming something more complicated than that. He grimaced at that, but pushed that thought away as he shook her gently and said softly, "Wake up, idiot…we can't stay in here all night."

She groaned sleepily, clearly not understanding a word he said, but as he pulled her out of the tub he discovered that she was still awake enough to be steered around…as long as he didn't expect independent thought from her. He wrapped her in a towel and sat her down on the toilet while he dried himself off and figured out what he was doing, keeping a close eye to make sure she didn't fall off the damned thing. He'd have to get her dressed in something before he put her in the spare room, and then he could finally go to bed himself. Never mind that it was still early in the evening, it was plain that neither of them were capable of staying up.

He tucked the towel in around his waist before he got her back up, steering her unresisting body into his room first so that he could dress her. He was relatively sure she'd freak if she woke up with no clothing on, but she had nothing here of her own. He sat her down on the bed, turning to his dresser to grab two pairs of pajamas. He dressed her first, and he was glad that the things were so loose on her…it made it easier to get them on her. He dressed himself slowly, groaning softly as muscles started stiffening already, and then dumped the towels in the hamper as he thought about what he needed to do. He was determined to talk to Kakashi tomorrow…preferably before she got up. If his guess was any good, her apartment was probably a shabby little shit hole…he was hoping he could convince the jounin to order her to move, if he couldn't convince her himself. It was becoming apparent that if none of the supposed 'adults' was going to fix this, he'd have to.

When he finally turned around, he discovered that she had already burrowed herself into his bed. He just stared blankly at that for a moment…and then sighed tiredly and decided that there was no point in trying to move her. He just didn't have enough energy…he wasn't even sure he could make it to the guest room himself. They had shared the futon in Wave…though Sakura had brought up a disturbing point, his bed was huge anyways. The blond was curled up on one side, looking like a small child in comparison to the size of the bed…surely there was enough room to have one side all to himself. There was just no point in fighting it. It was with great pleasure that he crawled into the other side of the bed and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru wasn't quite sure what was happening when she woke in the middle of the night. The bed was far too soft to be hers, the pillows too plump…even the pajamas were soft! But that wasn't what had woke her…she could hear groaning behind her, and the bed suddenly moved as the other person on it thrashed, tangled in the blanket that she had probably thrown off some time during the night. She was always doing that…her sleeping self just didn't seem to be comfortable with the confining feeling unless she couldn't get it off. She turned over and frowned sleepily at the sight that greeted her…Sasuke, caught in the grip of an obviously vicious nightmare. His face was twisted in pain and terror as he fought against the blankets entangling him, and the whimper that sounded so damned young caught her breath in sympathy. She knew that sound…she'd make that sound, so many times…

Without thinking, she reached over and tugged off the blankets that confined him, slightly alarmed when the terror didn't ease one bit from his expression. Without the blankets he went ridged, which practically made her ache in sympathy at how little good that would be for his already overworked muscles. She scooted closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "Sasuke? Sasuke, its okay…c'mon, wake up, bastard. It's okay really…I'm here, Sasuke…" She wasn't sure why it was so important that she say that, but he started to relax the moment she said that. Relieved, she started to pull away…only to watch him tense again. With a soft sigh, she gathered him into her arms and said softly, "Guess it's my turn, huh?" She pulled him against her, pressing her chest against his back with her arms wrapped protectively around him, as he had for her back in Wave. She grumbled softly. "You'd better appreciate this, bastard…dunno how I'm gonna sleep like this…" But she found as she pressed her forehead against the nape of his neck that it wasn't nearly as hard as she thought it would be. She was shortly lost to the welcome land of dreamless sleep.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke frozen as he woke with the unfamiliar feeling of warmth pressed against his back. There were arms around him…it took him a long, terrible moment to remember that he hadn't managed to get Hotaru any further than his own room before passing out. He relaxed marginally as he realized it had to be her…he wasn't sure why she'd be cuddled up to his back, but at least it wasn't some nut-job fangirl. Of course, a fangirl wouldn't have made it that far without waking him. The feeling of an unfamiliar presence, an untrusted chakra signature, would have roused him immediately. It bothered him that he trusted the girl that much, but he couldn't deny that he definitely felt rested. He'd just have to ask her about it later.

He pulled away from her gently, somewhat amused when she didn't wake, but instead took the chance to take up more of the bed than should be humanly possible. She sprawled out, taking up an obscene amount of space on the huge bed as though his presence had somehow kept her confined to a tiny portion, but now that he had left it she could do as she pleased. He shook his head and dressed quietly, stifling a groan at how sore he was…but he made sure to put the weights on along with the rest of his clothing. He scribbled out a note for Hotaru that he was going out to get her some clothing from her apartment, and then grabbed a quick and portable breakfast so that he could go find his errant sensei.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru stared at Kakashi with a calculated expression of horrified disbelief, and immediately countered the order he had just given her with a, "No." She acted as though she wasn't the least bit pleased…and Sasuke looked entirely too smug. She continued on flatly, "As I told the bastard last night, I won't move in with him. Not happening, just drop it." She had come up with a plan to outmaneuver the Uchiha after waking up to find him gone that morning. His apartment was gorgeous, but that was only a bonus…if she were living with him, in her own room of course, she could keep him from shutting her out. Or so she hoped…

The silver-haired ninja's words were in a calm, completely reasonable tone. "Hotaru-chan, I've seen your apartment. And if what Sasuke says is true, you don't have hot water. You're going to be too stiff to move most days if you can't have a proper shower at least with this training. I'm sure if I were to have a word with Hokage-sama…"

She growled at them, her heart soaring…if there was one thing she didn't want, it was for the old man to find out what she'd been putting up with, but she was in no danger of spilling her problems to the Hokage, so she pretended to give in with a show of annoyance. "Son of a bitch…fine. Fine! But don't expect me to help you move my shit. I don't want this, remember that!"

Kakashi looked somewhat disappointed, but the raven quickly agreed for both of them. "We'll move your stuff over now, since we're done for the morning. Kakashi-sensei can help me." Sasuke glared at the jounin when it looked for a moment like he wasn't going to agree.

The masked man let out a long suffering sigh, but nodded. "You can have the afternoon off, Hotaru-chan. Just remember to keep the weights on. We'll resume yesterday's exercise tomorrow afternoon."

She spend a good hour wandering, and finally ended up at Ichiraku for some lunch while she decided what she was going to do for the afternoon. It was there that some of her former classmates found her, just as she'd decided to go find a training ground to work on some offensive tactics.

The soprano voice behind her was firm and slightly annoyed. "Chouji, why do we have to get ramen? Can't we go for barbeque? You like barbeque! I don't want ramen…it's just so…Naruto-like."

Hotaru's fist tightened on her chopsticks as the blonde and her teammates parted the curtains, with Shikamaru quite obviously trying to stay out of the argument. She turned around and snapped, "And just what do you mean by _that,_ Yamanaka Ino?"

The trio turned to look at her, and Ino started, "Ramen is such…" She trailed off as she got a good look at who she was talking to. Her voice was startled. "Naruto?" She squinted a little at Hotaru's new clothing and hairstyle, and started giggling. "Why are you dressed like a girl? You make a pretty girl though…even with the orange!"

Hotaru watched the other blonde for a moment, but just couldn't stay mad…especially when the opportunity to needle the other girl on Sakura's behalf had just presented itself to her on a silver platter. She smiled and replied in an exaggeratedly sweet tone, "Why am I dressed like a girl? Because this is the way girls dress…Sakura and I argued forever when Sasuke bought me all those new clothes." She sighed theatrically. "She didn't like the orange. He thought it was funny though!" The boys with Ino were just staring, dumbfounded by the quickly brewing trouble.

Ino faltered for a moment, but recovered quickly. "Sasuke bought you…what? You're kidding, right? Did Sakura put you up to this?" She smirked a little. "You can come out now Sakura!" She looked around for a minute, her smile fading as Sakura didn't come out…as Hotaru started laughing at her she turned back, anger clear on her face. "Stop that! Tell me you're joking! Where is she?"

Hotaru shrugged. "Probably training…isn't that where you should be, little girl? She's getting so much stronger than you." She grinned at the other girl. "And I'm stronger than both of you! Oh yeah…I'm gonna be Hokage for sure!"

Ino crossed her arms and declared haughtily, "I don't believe you! No real girl could ever be as rude, clumsy, incompetent…"

Hotaru snorted and put her money on the table, calling over her shoulder, "Thanks, old man! I'll be back later in the week!" Then she turned to Ino. "You don't have to believe me. Old man Hokage does, and so does my team. In fact…" Her eyes sparkled as she leaned in and whispered into Ino's ear, "Sasuke asked me to move in with him. He's moving my stuff right now." She patted the other girl's shoulder and watched her do a credible imitation of a fish. "You girls should just all give up. Sakura already has. There are more important things in life than Sasuke, you know. And, for the future…my _name_ is Uzumaki Hotaru." She sauntered off to see if she could find the ground that Sakura was training at…laughing at the impression she just made on the kunoichi's rival.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Late that evening she finally came wandering into her new home. Sasuke was seated on the couch with a multitude of scrolls spread out on the table in front of him. She raised an eyebrow at the aura of 'pissed off' that her friend was emanating. His frosty silence and determination to ignore her was…well, baffling. She had done nothing that she could see, so with her typical diplomacy she demanded, "Who the hell shoved a stick up your ass, Uchiha?"

He turned to glare at her coldly…if it had been any of their peers standing in front of that glare they probably would have died on the spot, but being who she was…she returned glare for glare until he finally relented and spat, "Did you tell Yamanaka Ino that you were my girlfriend? She was wailing and ranting all over me as we moved your _junk_."

Hotaru stared at him for a moment…and then started laughing. His glare intensified, but she merrily ignored it as she gasped out between breaths, "Me…girlfriend…you…that's…that's priceless!"

He replied icily, "I fail to see what's funny about this, Uzumaki." He started gathering up his scrolls with tight, precise, angry motions.

She waved her hand in the air as she tried to catch her breath enough to speak coherently. "I didn't…didn't tell her that." She took a deep breath, but kept her gaze on the floor…she knew if she looked up she wouldn't be able to contain the laughter. "I told her you asked me to move in. She assumed the rest from there…"

He stalked over to a set of shelves and slammed the scroll down on it before turning to snarl, "You go tell her differently then! You're not my girlfriend!"

He sounded a bit frustrated, and she found herself looking up to see if his expression matched his tone. She was startled to see the faint blush on his cheeks. Grinning, she swept over to the hallway and called over her shoulder, "Not a chance bastard…I'm not going to waste this great chance. You shouldn't either!" She continued on into her new bedroom, staring at the piles of her belongings with a frown…she was going to have to clean some of this up if she wanted to sleep. There was absolute silence behind her as she calculated what she wanted where.

As she moved to start sorting her clothing to put away she heard some very un-Uchiha-like stomping in the hallway. She closed her eyes for a moment, getting a perverse pleasure out of the way she always managed to get a rise out of him. Her door slammed open, and he growled, "What do you mean 'great chance'? What could we possibly get out of this…stupid rumor?!"

She threw him a foxy grin as she started putting shirts into her drawer. "Why bastard, you don't see it? If we pretend I'm your girlfriend…the fangirls will stop bothering you!" She smirked at his surprise. "They'll be too busy trying to get rid of me!"

His expression hardened and he replied flatly, "No. Not happening. I'm not letting them do anything to you over a stupid lie."

She rolled her eyes. "Like any of _them_ could take me anyway. It'll keep me on my toes!" She put down the shirt she was holding and stood, walking over to him. "Look, a few little girls hating me for a while isn't going to change a thing, Sasuke. And who knows, maybe they'll all get used to the idea that you're _not_ some pretty toy to fight over once they all think you're out of reach. I don't mind doing this for you. You're my friend…isn't that the kind of thing friends are supposed to do?" As her sapphire eyes bored relentlessly into his onyx ones, she could see the conflict that her offer had triggered. "We are friends, aren't we, Sasuke?" Her tone was soft, and as close to pleading as she'd ever gotten in her life…but she wanted affirmation that they were friends in his mind. She was almost sure that if she didn't push it, that conflict in his eyes was going to come out the wrong way.

He continued to stare into her eyes for a moment, and then nodded abruptly and turned his head away from her, like he couldn't stand the intensity of her gaze. His tone was gruff as he replied, "Yes, we're friends. I'm…going to make dinner." And then he fled the uncomfortable scene. As she turned back to her shirts, her lips curved in a triumphant smile…it was only one battle, but with as many battles as she'd been winning against him, the outcome of the war against his isolation was looking better and better.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The remainder of the week proceeded without incident, and Sasuke didn't demand again that his new roommate clear up the rumors she had accidentally started. After a night to sleep on it he could actually see her point, and was willing to let her go through with it if that was what she wanted. She certainly hadn't been behaving in any sort of 'girlfriend' way, but he wasn't sure that she knew _how_ to. Either way though, he was grateful for the uninterrupted study time this was providing him with in the evenings. He was slowly reclaiming more and more of his evening time as his body adjusted to the extra weight and he didn't tire as quickly. The training had gotten no less intense, but both he and Hotaru were now moving fluidly, even if they were still slower than normal. It annoyed him that Kakashi had already increased her weights once, but she seemed to have a remarkable ability to bounce back from stress and fatigue in a fraction of the time it took everyone else.

As he'd suspected after that first day of training, he was now working hard for every hit he scored on Hotaru. She was right about her being a very physical learner…he could see now why she had done so badly in the Academy. That much _theory_ being thrown at her would have bored her to tears, guaranteeing that she wouldn't retain a bit of it. She had taken to joining him in his evening study sessions though, and he was beginning to teach her some of that theory that she so lacked. He was surprised at his own patience…but he found that if he could relate a piece of theory to an event that had happened to them in the past she tended to retain it, occasionally even leaping on ahead to the advanced applications based on that newfound understanding of something she had already known instinctively.

Kakashi finally stopped then with a pleased expression. "You two did well this week. I'm pleased with your progress. You can have the next two days off…and don't forget the spring festival the day after tomorrow! I'm sure that everyone will want to see Konoha's newest couple!" The smirk in his voice was clear as he poofed away, leaving his students staring blankly at each other.

Hotaru cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Festival? Is it really that time already?" Her laugh was nervous. "Well, I don't do festivals anyway…so no need to worry bastard!" Her tone was bright, but her expression guarded as she watched him.

He snorted and pinned her with a glare. "We're going." He didn't feel the need to elaborate…despite the fact that he normally skipped the festivals himself. He turned to leave the training ground just as she gripped his shoulder tightly.

"What do you mean, 'we're going'? I'm not your little prize to parade around, you asshole!" Her tone was tight, angry and…apprehensive at the same time. "I don't do festivals!"

He turned abruptly, finding that it was his turn to catch her gaze. His eyes narrowed and he put a hand over the one on his shoulder. "Why? Festivals seem like your kind of thing." There was something in her voice and tenseness in her expression that he didn't like.

She looked away from him and snapped, "I just don't, Sasuke. Okay? I'm not…"

He cut her off, grabbing her head by the chin and forcing her to look at him as he replied angrily, "Not good enough, dead last. Why don't you do festivals? That many people out to enjoy a whole day, all those games…why wouldn't you join them? Quit hiding things from me!"

She looked shocked for a moment before her expression hardened into that stubborn one that he was coming to know so well. "Screw you, Uchiha. I'll tell you what…you start sharing, and I'll do the same. It goes both ways."

He thought about that for a moment…and then snorted in amusement. "You would see it that way. Fine…we'll have an evening of _sharing_ then, Hotaru. If I share, you have to too." He picked her up suddenly, throwing her over his shoulder. Her screams of rage reverberated down the streets as he carried her home, ignoring the expressions of the general public with his typical distain even as she invented new obscenities from her position over his shoulder.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

To say that Hotaru was angry would have been putting it mildly. Enraged might have come closer to the mark. Not only had the damned Uchiha carried her home like some newfound trophy, but he'd had the gall to actually tie her up after several attempts to escape him. While she had to admit that his rope skills were quite good, it also occurred to her that her skills as an escape artist were quite abysmal. She couldn't even get up to wipe that damned smirk off his face as he lounged - _lounged!_ - at the other end of the couch. She spat another expletive at him that would have made the other girls her age faint. Her vocabulary of vulgar and offensive terms was one aspect of her education that was shockingly complete.

He crossed his arms. "Well, I'm sure you know what my first question is, but to show good faith we'll start with something you want to ask me."

She stopped struggling with a huff, still glaring at him as though she could explode his head with a thought. "Fine. Since you're not giving me a choice…" Her expression softened as she asked softly, "What do you dream about that scares you so much, Sasuke? That nightmare you had the first night I was here was nothing normal. I couldn't wake you."

His face lost all expression at that, and the suddenly dead look in his eyes instantly triggered her internal alarms. "The night my brother slaughtered my clan. The night I was too weak. That's what I dream about on those nights…on most nights."

Her breath caught, but she didn't offer any apology or pity. She was sure that he'd had enough of that. Instead, she nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you for telling me…if you ever want to talk about that, I…I can listen, Sasuke. But…moving on," a quick change of subject was in order, "to why I don't do festivals…well, monsters aren't welcome at festivals." She shrugged, hiding her hurt well. "It's not that I've never been to one, but I'm not welcome at them. The people…" As the life came back to his eyes, his sharp look caused her to falter. "The people always drove me out of them. So I stopped going." She shrugged a little, startled by the sudden anger in his eyes.

In a frosty tone that she knew wasn't directed at her, he replied, "They drove you out? Well, they won't this time." His eyes narrowed speculatively as he watched her squirm uncomfortably, but bound as she was there was no escaping him. "They won't dare drive you out if you're with _me_."

She growled softly and spat acidly, "Yes, because that's _exactly_ what I need, Sasuke. You, playing protector…"

He actually started to chuckle at the fire in her eyes. She stared at him for a moment like he had gone off the deep end before he finally explained, "But isn't that what you've been doing for me? With those stupid girls? I don't want to play 'protector'…I'm not stupid enough to think you need one. I'm returning the favor. Besides…" He leaned towards her, and she could have sworn she saw a hint of mischief behind his smirk. But that was impossible…bastards don't do mischief! He continued on, "…Kakashi was right. If we want everyone to think we're a couple…we need to be seen as one."

She swallowed hard, her eyes wide. "W-What? Seen as…a c-couple?" She scowled as the smirk on his face broadened. "Damnit, Sasuke! No! I wouldn't know how…"

He got up to go get his scrolls, continuing to speak over his shoulder. "You'll be fine. No one's going to expect me to go out with a girly type anyway. Just be yourself and we'll enjoy the evening." He came back with the two scrolls they'd been working on the previous evening.

She raised an eyebrow, seeing a chance to get him back…now that she was starting to relax into the idea. She commented guilelessly as he stopped in front of the table, "And what if they expect us to kiss or something?"

She smirked as he dropped the scrolls he was holding with a clatter to glare at her a moment…before shrugging and replying with a smirk of his own, "It wouldn't be the first time we've kissed. I'm sure we could pretend just fine."

She felt the blush rise to her cheeks and scowled ferociously at him, squirming as he sat and pulled her over to rest her head in his lap. "Hey, aren't you going to untie me?! Bastard!"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, I'm not. You need to practice escaping anyways…so you can stay like that until you get out on your own…or morning, whichever comes first. Now, back to what we were working on…"

**Author's Note:** Haha! I finally got it done! _Grumbles_. Only took me forever…dumb colds, and work, and dentist appointments…anyways, I'd once again like to thank you all for your support! The number of reviews this story is getting continues to astonish me, as well as the number of people that have added this to their alerts. The next chapter should take a little less time to get out, barring anything unexpected. Of course, I only promised one a week, but when you guys are so enthusiastic I feel guilty not giving you a reward!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...would I be writing fanfics if I did?

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Twelve**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru hadn't been to a festival since shortly before she entered the Academy. She wasn't sure whether she should be excited or nervous. She obviously had something to wear, but she didn't have a clue how to style her hair, or if she was supposed to wear some of that make-up that some girls wore. Did girls her age wear that? She wasn't even sure how to put on her kimono! She paced her room that morning, up far earlier than usual and in the process of working herself into a nervous breakdown over this. She didn't want to make a bad impression…not that she really cared what most people thought, but for some reason she didn't want to look any more stupid than usual in front of her peers.

Before she could work herself into a full panic attack though, there was a knock at the door. She could hear Sasuke move across the living room to answer it, but she couldn't make out what he was telling the person at the door. When the knock came on her bedroom door she squeaked, and then cleared her throat and answered, "Come in!"

The door opened a little and Sakura stuck her head inside. "You're not dressed yet!" She sighed and slipped in, looking gorgeous in her own pink and silver kimono. Hers was less elaborately patterned than Hotaru's, but beautiful nonetheless. It started out a pink so pale it was nearly white at her shoulders, darkening as it went down until it was a dark pink that was several shades removed from actually being black at her feet, with trailing sleeves that matched the color at her shoulders. Scattered over the body and legs of the kimono were delicate sakura pedals, each a pink that matched the shade of her hair precisely and edged in silver. The pedals were few near the top, becoming more frequent as the fabric got darker. Her obi was of a plain, dark pink fabric. Her hair was pulled back into a messy looking bun, with hair sticking artfully out around the edges of it. Silver chopsticks with little pink jewels dangling from tiny chains were keeping it in place, and as far as Hotaru could tell her make-up was minimal…a light dusting of what seemed to be blush and a hint of lip gloss was all she could see on the kunoichi.

When Sakura stopped talking and put her hands on her hips, frowning, Hotaru suddenly realized she'd been staring at the other girl enviously and missed everything she'd just said. She took a deep breath and then said helplessly, "I…didn't know how to put it on. I don't know what to do with any of it!" She refused to cry over something so stupid, but it was a close thing.

Sakura's expression softened, but she turned briskly to the kimono that was hanging from Hotaru's closet door. "Well, get undressed then. You can leave your underwear on, but that's it. We'll have you dressed and ready in no time!" It was only then that Hotaru realized that the other girl was holding a small bag in her hand. She stripped down as the other girl laid out some things on her dresser and went looking through the hair supplies that she had picked out.

Sasuke stuck his head through the door at that point to ask, "Are you two going to be long? Apparently some…people followed Sakura, and seem to be expecting us all to go together." His distaste was obvious, as was his obliviousness to the fact that his friend was standing there in nothing but her panties.

Hotaru didn't think anything of it, but she watched in amusement as Sakura stiffened, grabbing a hefty metal statuette that was on Hotaru's dresser and chucking it at the door as she screeched, "She's naked, you idiot! Get out!" The door shut quickly just as the figure hit it with a clatter, with ominous mutters from the other side of it. Sakura continued on in a calm tone, "And since they're here anyway, please send in Hinata-chan and Ino-pig to help me, Sasuke!" The kunoichi grinned at Hotaru's soundless laughter as they listened to the raven stomp his way down the hall. "Now, let's get you into this kimono!"

While Sakura helped her into the kimono there was a gentle knock at the door, immediately followed by Ino barging in with a mortified Hinata peering in the door behind her. Ino frowned. "Forehead-girl, what's up? You really need help getting the idiot ready?"

As Hotaru drew breath to take offence to that Sakura put her fingers over the blond's lips and glared at her rival. "Yes, I do. She's never worn a kimono, she hasn't got a clue what to do with her hair, and we need to do a bit of make-up too. We can't have Sasuke's date looking anything but her best!"

Hinata's eyes were wide with surprise, but she remained silent as she watched the exchange between the two girls. Ino raise an eyebrow and replied softly, "Sasuke, huh? You really have given up on him, haven't you, Sakura…why? I didn't really believe it when she told me." Despite her question, she moved towards Hotaru to help get her dressed. At that point she was starting to feel like a big doll or something.

Sakura took her hand off Hotaru's lips and crooked a finger at Hinata, gesturing her over to pick out hair supplies and leaving Ino to finish dressing their clueless friend. "Because we don't stand a chance, Ino. Why continue to waste our time when he's only got eyes for one person? I think…" she pursed her lips and handed a few strands of beads to Hinata, piling hair pieces into her hands, "…that I want someone that actually sees _me_, you know?"

Hotaru decided at that point that anything she said would do more harm than good, and decided to watch Hinata instead…the shy girl seemed to be throwing small, measuring glances her way that she wasn't sure how to interpret. Ino stopped for a moment to stare at Sakura. "Are you serious? He's finally showing an interest, after all this time? In _who_?"

Sakura snorted and turned to look very pointedly at their makeover victim for an instant before looking in Ino's eyes. "I think that's something we can talk about later. If we don't hurry we're going to be late!" Her tone was cheerful, but as her rival's eyes widened in astonishment she nodded very slightly.

Hotaru grumbled as Ino tied her obi snugly. "I always miss the good stuff! You girls are always keeping the stupidest secrets…why does it matter if the bastard likes someone? I'm not gonna tell him, you know…" The sudden giggles as she was pushed into a chair were alarming. "Gah! I should have just refused the bastard when he said we were going. You girls creep me out!" She started squirming away from the hands that were suddenly in her hair and doing things to her face, closing her eyes and flinching as a pencil of some sort was brought near her eyes. "Hey! Stop that! You don't need to poke my damned eyes out, I'm sorry!"

As a hand grabbed her chin, Ino's voice firmly told her, "Sit still and I won't have to poke your eyes out." She chuckled as their victim stilled and continued to speak, though not to Hotaru. "Nice choice of colors, Forehead-girl. You suck with flowers, but this seems to be one thing you're good at."

There was a tug on the side of Hotaru's head. "Thanks, Ino-pig. Flowers were always your thing anyway. Can you grab that bottle of gel over there please, Hinata-chan?"

There was a soft "Y-Yes!" from the other girl present. The totally incomprehensible things continued to happen to Hotaru's face for several more minutes in silence. She had to bite back a yelp as pain suddenly blossomed in her ears, but it disappeared quickly. They all stopped suddenly, and she opened her eyes to see the three of them looking at her, the two outgoing girls speculatively, and Hinata with a slight blush. She stammered softly, "Y-You are a v-very p-pretty girl, H-Hotaru-chan…"

The blond just about raised her hand to rub the back of her hair when her teammate slapped it down firmly. "Don't you dare after all that work!"

Hotaru laughed nervously. "Oh! Sorry…can I see what you did to me yet?" When the three girls nodded permission she got up to go look in the mirror on her dresser. Her expression changed to one of surprise as she saw the girl in the mirror, not quite able to connect her with herself until she watched the girl's face move as hers did. They had done something to create a dark gold outline around her eyes, making them look more almond shaped and somehow a more…vivid blue. The illusion of the shape of her eyes was aided by the single lines of tiny red jewels that had been glued from the corners of her eyes, back across her temples. Her cheeks dusted with a light, faint gold that shimmered subtly as she moved, blending well with her natural tanned tones and making her seem to…glow, somehow. Her lips were glossed instead of painted, giving them a plump, pouty look. And her hair! Instead of gold, everything used in her hair was either crimson or black, contrasting well with her face and matching the kimono. Her bangs hung straight down for a change, with only a bit of the spiky look to them. Her hair was pulled back into clips as it usually was, but each clip was a beautiful crimson butterfly with black bodies and black edged wings. She was startled to see tiny jewels of some sort, rubies maybe, decorating the wings of each butterfly. Strands of miniscule beads were woven into her hair, trailing back from her hairline to the clips, giving the impression of glittering crimson streaks in her hair. The back of her hair was spiked wilder than ever; fanning out above the butterflies, but at the same time gave the impression of being that way on purpose. The strangest thing was the decorations hanging from her ears…she had never worn earrings before, but the girls had obviously pierced her ears for her, and from them hung onyx butterflies, each the size of an average sized coin with strings of tiny red jewels hanging from the tip of the body of each down to her shoulders.

She turned to the three very smug girls, her eyes wide. "Is that me? How…I mean…" She was speechless for a change, not sure what to do.

Sakura smirked. "Well, I'd tell you that you should be thanking us…but I think the reaction of the boys that are waiting for us will be all the thanks we need, right girls?" As the other two nodded, Sakura grabbed her hand and dragged her out to show off before she could get another word out.

Even she could sense the uncomfortable silence in the room she was dragged to. No wonder though…it was a room full of guys that didn't entirely like or trust each other, all forced to be there by their female teammates. Once you added Sasuke's anti-social tendencies and general bastard attitude into the mix it was guaranteed to be at _least_ a little uncomfortable. Silence reigned as Sakura stopped her just out of sight and went ahead to announce solemnly, "Gentlemen, I have the pleasure of presenting to you the lovely…Uzumaki Hotaru!" The other two girls pushed her out into the living room when she balked, the giggles indicating that they were enjoying her discomfort far more than they should have.

She stopped beside Sakura, assessing the mood of the room…and was startled to find everyone except a certain raven-haired teammate staring at her. Chouji's blurted exclamation of, "She really is a girl!" had her cheeks burning, and she discovered that she felt frighteningly…vulnerable. Kiba finally broke the tension in the room by turning to Sasuke and groaning. "Man, it figures you'd get the best looking date! You don't like girls anyway, why can't you leave the cool ones for us?"

The killer intent from three of the four girls spiked, and Hinata had the grace to look embarrassed for her teammate. Hotaru gritted her teeth and said to Sakura, just loud enough for everyone to hear, "Maybe I should have worn weapons under this. We still have time, right?"

Kiba laughed nervously as Ino started reaching into her kimono to offer the other blond a weapon. "Ladies, ladies, this is a party! We don't need weapons!" When the killer intent didn't diminish any he continued hopefully, "It was a joke! A joke! Hotaru can appreciate jokes, right?" He started to back towards the door slowly, shooting the other boys an appealing look. "C'mon guys, help me out!"

Sasuke snorted and gave him a withering look. "You got yourself into this, mutt-boy. You can get yourself out." The other boys all seemed to agree, staring at him with amused pity.

When Kiba fled the apartment the girls couldn't help but laugh.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Uchiha Sasuke found that he was truly enjoying himself for the first time in a very long time. He was bemused by the way his blond friend ran from stall to stall like a kid in a candy store, determined to try every last game, make the most of every moment. She tried every game at least once, but never seemed to win at a single one. It may have been his imagination, but he could have sworn he'd seen a shadow of hatred in the eyes of the stall owners right up until they caught sight of him standing behind her. She was either completely oblivious or determinedly ignoring it…he wasn't entirely sure. As well as he was coming to know her, he simply couldn't tell…it had taken him time to realize that while her cheerful demeanor wasn't an act, it was just as much a mask as his indifference.

The sun was setting, and he was mildly enthralled with the way the vivid colors that washed over the village had seemed to set Hotaru aflame, bathing her in a glow that made her seem almost unearthly. He wasn't paying a whole lot of attention when the girl suddenly stopped dead in front of him. He grunted as he was forced into an abrupt stop, nearly running into her. "A little warning next time, dead last?"

She snorted, not bothering to take her eyes off whatever had caught her attention. "A ninja of your skill shouldn't need warning, dumbass."

He rolled his eyes and pushed her. "Quit taking up the walkway, idiot." She started giggling at his growl when she refused to be budged. "What the hell are you staring at?"

She pointed a finger towards one of the game stalls and said in a determined tone, "That. And I'm going to win it if it takes me all night!"

He peered past her, sighting down her arm to look at the object she was pointing at…which turned out to be a perfectly ordinary looking medium sized, dark brown teddy bear. He looked at her skeptically. "That? Why that? It's just a…" He gritted his teeth as she suddenly stomped on his foot.

She turned to glare at him. "I just want it, okay? It's just a dumb shuriken throwing game. I'll have it in no time!" She whirled back around and stomped stiffly off to the stall, demanding loudly what she needed to do to win that bear.

He saw the flash of hatred in the stall owner's eyes, just as he had in the others, but decided to stay back this time. It wasn't that he didn't want her to win the bear…but he had the feeling that if she discovered he was easing the way for her then he'd never hear the end of it. He watched impassively as she threw her first shuriken at the target. Her aim wasn't bad, but he was watching the stall owner rather than her, and caught the ever-so-slight nudge he gave the target stand as she threw her weapon. He had just about decided to intervene when the stall owner did the same for her second throw, but discovered that someone else had beat her to it. Just as he tensed to move to the stall, Hinata approached. The beautiful Hyuuga placed a hand on Hotaru's arm just as she was lining up for her final throw. The gentle girl seemed to be giving her sunny friend a few tips, but all the while she was pinning the stall owner with an implacably reproachful glare. The blond paid him no mind as she listened intently to Hinata, commenting with loud exuberance that she was glad the girl had come along to give her tips. The man in the stall flushed angrily, but Sasuke was glad to see that the former prankster's final throw was clean, hitting the target dead center. She started jumping up and down excitedly, hugging the suddenly flustered Hinata in her excitement.

A moment later she came running over to Sasuke with her prize. "Look, bastard! I got it, I got it!" She hugged the plush toy merrily, glaring when he gave her a bored look.

"It only took you how many tries? Are we done in this area yet?" He was about to continue when he caught a flash of something _wrong_ in the crowd behind Hotaru. Not a normal kind of wrong…he was starting to get used to the constant killer intent that followed his friend around. No…this was a _wrong_ that was ebony and crimson, eyes that would be burned into his memory for the rest of his life…hair as dark as his own…

Hotaru caught the mood shift as he suddenly tensed, her body reacting in turn to his sudden alert state. "Sasuke? What is it…? Sasuke, talk to me…"

He saw the flash of red and black eyes again, in a different spot in the crowd, and the blond in front of him was suddenly forgotten in the surge of his consuming need for vengeance. He pushed past her without a word, threading his way through the crowd in the direction of those eyes, unthinking as they drew him on like terrible beacons. He only vaguely registered the startled and increasingly angry shouts from her as those eyes led him to the edge of the festival and then…disappeared. He snarled in frustration as he stared at the empty streets before him, lit with mockingly bright and cheerful festival lanterns, panting in rage and exertion. She caught up with him moments later, startling him enough that he groped after weapons he wasn't wearing, mistaking her for a moment as an enemy.

She was staring into his face with anger for a moment, but her face quickly shifted to that incredibly serious expression that he thought he would never get used to seeing on her. She frowned slightly. "Sasuke? Are you okay? What did you see?"

He stared past her for a moment, shaken more deeply than he was willing to let on. He finally shook his head as she started tugging on his sleeve. "Nothing…I saw nothing. Let's go home. It's starting to get dark." He turned away from the empty street resolutely, vowing that the next time he saw those eyes he would be skilled enough to catch them. His partner was strangely silent as they headed back into the crowd, but he barely noticed. It wasn't until a high pitched shout ahead of them brought his attention back to reality that he realized she hadn't said a word the entire time.

She looked up brightly at the shout though, just in time to see three children dodge several adults, who laughed indulgently. The trio stopped in front of them, with Konohamaru in the lead. "Hey boss! You never have time for us…" The boy's eyes went wide as he took in Hotaru's appearance with a touch of awe. His two companions seemed just as awed by her. "I heard you were really a girl, Hotaru-nee-chan, but they didn't tell me you were so pretty!" A faint blush dusted his cheeks.

She snorted and gave him a skeptical look. "Nice try Konohamaru. Just don't think I'm weak just 'cause I'm a girl!" She gave him one of her cocky grins. "You're still gonna have to fight me to be Hokage!"

The boy puffed up and grinned back at her. "Of course, boss! Hey…" He suddenly glared at Sasuke, his blush deepening slightly. "I'll fight him too!"

She glanced between the raven and Konohamaru with a puzzled expression as he snorted at the kid's stupidity. "Him? Why him?"

The boy gave her a cheeky grin and proclaimed, "Because the best ninja should get to be your boyfriend, Hotaru-nee-chan! And that's gonna be me!" Before she had time to protest that he ran back off into the crowd with Udon and Moegi, laughing merrily.

She stared after them, red faced and drawing in a deep breath to let out a roar of protest, but quickly subsided as Sasuke put his hand on her arm. As amusing as that scene would normally have been, it just didn't pierce the turmoil that engulfed him at the sudden reminder of his status as an avenger. He was in no mood for their antics, and Hotaru seemed to sense that with unusual insight. She sighed softly and followed behind him as he continued on home, as silent as before.

They made it home without further incident, and as they slipped off their sandals in the entryway he told her curtly, "I'm tired. I'm going right to bed." He stalked off without waiting for an answer, making it to his bedroom before she had a chance to ask any questions he wasn't prepared for. He slipped into his room, closing the door before turning on the light…and froze the moment he caught sight of his dresser mirror. The glass was cracked, with delicate fractures radiating out from the center of the mirror. The glass was all still in place, but written over top of it in something bright red and dripping slightly was a single word. "Brother."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru still wasn't sure what had set the raven off at the festival, but he'd been silent and cold the whole week following, and she was getting sick of it. He refused to talk about it, refused to discuss why he suddenly wouldn't let her even _see_ into his bedroom. He had suddenly shut down on her completely, and it was starting to reflect in their training time. Every time she made some sort of gain, he would work as though possessed to outdo her…like he couldn't stand the thought that she was getting ahead of him in any way. Any semblance of home life or friendship they had built seemed to have gone right out the window, and his eyes had a cold, almost dead look. He had developed an amazing sense of timing for avoiding her questions.

Under normal circumstances she would have enjoyed the way he was challenging her but there was something driving him that she didn't like, and she had finally appealed to Kakashi to help her out. It turned out that he was just as concerned by his student's sudden turn about as she was, but it still took some passionate argument to get him to agree to trapping Sasuke for her, rather than talking to the raven himself. She was relieved when she finally obtained his reluctant agreement…and they'd had plenty of time to get a plan together, since the raven seemed to be avoiding their sensei outside of training.

They were working on her offensive style when the time finally came. She carefully maneuvered Sasuke around until he had his back to the tree that Kakashi was casually leaning against while supervising their spar. Her glance flickered to Kakashi meaningfully, and just as Sasuke moved to take advantage of her momentary inattention he found himself wrapped in a dozen lines of ninja wire, yanking him back rudely to bind him to the tree. The flicker of surprise in his eyes was the most emotion she had seen from him all week, but she ignored it as she nodded pleasantly at the jounin. "Thank you, Kaka-sensei. I can take it from here."

The masked man gave the suddenly enraged Sasuke a pat on the head before replying, "Don't hurt him too badly, Hotaru-chan…unless he asks for it, of course." Before she could bellow anything about perverts he used a teleport jutsu to escape, leaving her with an incredibly pissed off Sasuke.

She watched him speculatively for a moment before turning away to drag a stump to sit on around in front of him. She was tired, damnit, and didn't really feel like standing with as long as this was likely to take. She had to give him some credit though…despite how angry he obviously was he didn't say a word, just continued to glare at her.

She plopped down on the stump, legs spread and resting her elbows on her knees in a terribly un-ladylike pose. She matched him glare for glare for a few minutes, waiting to see if he would say anything…but he didn't. Being the _amazingly_ patient person she was, she finally demanded, "So, what the hell is up with you, bastard? You've been an asshole all damned week. What happened at the festival to set you off like this?"

He sneered at her, very much the arrogant little dumbass that she hadn't seen in months now. "Why should I tell you, _dead last_?" He tugged at the wires binding him, but was just out of luck for a while…as good as he was, Kakashi was far better. "You're so weak you needed our _sensei_ to catch me for you?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, glinting dangerously. "I thought we had gotten past that by now, Uchiha. You are I are dead _even_. Does that mean you've sunk to my level? Maybe I should have asked _Sakura_ to come talk to you then, if our skill level is as low as _that_." She snorted. "Yeah, right. The girl has improved, but not that fast. No, I had to ask Kaka-sensei…because you're such an asshole that the only other option would have been to beat this out of you." She snared the gaze of those black eyes, filled with more life than they had been all week, and held them with sheer force of will. "I think I might have to anyway, but we'll see. So, back to the question of the night…what the hell crawled up your ass and died?"

He snorted, but didn't look away from her. "It's none of your business. You wouldn't understand."

She launched herself off the stump at him, grabbing his throat with enough force to slam his head back into the tree trunk. She wouldn't kill him, but she was well aware that it sometimes took force to drag these things out of him. She got right in his face, perversely enjoying the startled flash in his eyes, and hissed softly, "None of my business? Wouldn't understand? You _are_ my business, Uchiha Sasuke. You _made_ yourself my business the moment you chose to keep my secret. My secret is out, but it still applies. You are my _best friend_, and my _rival_. You are the _only_ one of our peers who understands my pain, even if you don't understand _all_ of it. Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm stupid, Uchiha. You know better than _anyone_ that I'm not. Don't _assume_ that I'm not going to understand because of your _idiotic_ idea that you're better than me. You've known for a while that you're _not_." His expression was getting darker by the moment, but when he opened his mouth to interrupt her she wasn't having any of that…her grip on his throat tightened, restricting his air. "Don't. Don't you dare. How can I even _try_ to understand something if you won't _tell_ me? I know you don't know everything about me, but I don't know everything about you either. There's a time and a place for these things and this is the time for you to tell me what the fuck is up." She released his throat, eyeing the angry redness and bruises quickly forming, but not regretting them one bit.

He continued to glare at her, clearing his throat a little to rasp out hoarsely, "I'm an avenger, Hotaru. I don't have time for this shit. I don't have time to be weak, to coddle you, to play second to you. I have a man to kill, a terrible man, who is so far ahead of us that I may never catch up if I take the time to…"

She held up a hand abruptly for silence, and was a little startled when he cut off what he was saying. She started pacing in front of him, her anger making her seem more…feral, and yet more controlled at the same time. She thought for a moment, and then finally replied in a carefully neutral tone. "Are you even hearing yourself, Uchiha? You don't have time to coddle me, and yet you don't have time to play second to me all in the same breath? What the _hell_? You've _never_ had to coddle me! We work off each other, and keep each other on our toes. Do you really think we would have gotten this far in two whole weeks if we didn't have each other to compete against? If it had been anyone else standing in front of one of you, you would have wiped the floor with them." She threw him a contemptuous look and continued to pace. "Are you really _that_ stupid, Sasuke? Have you really missed _everything_ that's happened since Wave?"

His head turned back and forth as he followed her pacing. "I don't have time for stupid relationships! I have to…"

She whipped around and snarled, "…avenge your clan, I know, I know! Why Sasuke? _Why_ do you have to avenge them! _Why_ do you have to kill him! There's more to it than that now! Do you have to lose your humanity to do it? Do you have to become like _him_? Can't you do this _your_ way?"

He shook his head stubbornly. "There's nothing more than that! I just have to!" It was the lamest excuse she had ever heard, and he didn't get to say any more than that as Hotaru's fist met his right eye with only half the force she was capable of, but he also hadn't, and couldn't, move out of the way at all…his head collided with the tree trunk again with a crack that wasn't enough to satisfy her, but she was trying _not_ to kill him after all.

She closed again and spat, "Not good enough, Uchiha. I know there's more there then that! Why do you want to kill him? What will it accomplish? I bet I know the reasons better than you do!" She backed up a bit, growling softly. "You know what? If you're going to be so _stupid_, then _fuck_ you! You can get _yourself_ out of that! I'm out of here…find me when you're ready to be _human_ again!"

She stalked off out of the clearing, not prepared to let him see the tears in her eyes. She thought he was different…she thought he was finally coming around, but apparently she had been wrong. It hurt to be so damned wrong. It hurt to see her first real friend, her _best_ friend go back to killing himself by inches in a way that she was achingly familiar with, but was so damned normal in a village of shinobi that he was applauded for it by most. She broke into a run the moment she was out of sight, and it fit her mood when the sky suddenly opened up over her, drenching her within seconds. She didn't go back to the apartment though…she couldn't. Not now. He would probably go back there immediately upon finding his way out of those wires, and she just couldn't stand the thought of seeing those cold eyes right now. So she fled to her favorite thinking place, her aerie…a place that only two people in the whole village knew she went to when she was upset, and Sasuke wasn't one of those people. As she settled on the head of the Yondaime Hokage, hidden in his stony hair, she was glad that the downpour hid her tears.

**Author's Note:** Woo, sorry that took so long guys. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to rewrite everything up to the point in the festival where Sasuke spots the eyes…it just didn't come out in a way I was satisfied with, much less liked. I'd have skipped it entirely, but the whole thing was necessary. Everything after that just seemed to flow out…but it was like pulling teeth to get that far. Ah well…I think that's likely to be the most challenging part, in terms of actually writing it, for the rest of 'Shadow and Flame'. I'd like to state that the rest of the fic is already structured and outlined; at this point it's just a matter of getting it out. Don't ask me how many chapters exactly…I haven't broken it down; I'll just stop where it seems appropriate for each. Let's just say 'lots' and leave it at that. I'm so into this that I've actually started plotting the sequel in my spare time at work, which is currently working under the title 'Fractured Souls'…just a little food for thought! Thank you for your patience and amazing support…happy reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...just my own twisted fantasies.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke wasn't sure how long he just hung there, listening to the downpour and letting the wires hold him against the tree as Hotaru's insistent questions ran in circles through his troubled mind. It was dark by the time he found the energy to inch his hand down far enough to get his finger into the loop of a kunai so that he could cut the wires. His face and throat were throbbing in an unpleasant way, and his left eye was swollen almost shut at that point. Her questions ate into the supposed peace he had found with the renewal of his purpose, disturbing things that had been lurking in his subconscious since the day his brother had let him live. Damn her! Damn her for dragging these questions, doubts, _fears_ up! Damn her for making something that had been so clear into something so _hard_! He had been content as he was, not knowing what he was missing…never questioning the reasons for his goals, letting his need drive him.

He trudged dully through the streets of Konoha, finding the rain oddly appropriate to his mood. There was no one out to see him look so damned pathetic at this point. Between the darkness and the heavy rain the streets were completely empty…well, almost. He almost swore out loud as a concerned voice suddenly called his name. "Sasuke! Sasuke, what are you doing out here? Where's Hotaru?" His other teammate caught up with him, not even winded for a change. Luckily, she fell in on his right where he could see her properly.

He kept his head down, watching her through the straggled and dripping mess of his hair, and grunted, "I'm not her keeper, how would I know?" He winced slightly as it came out a great deal more hoarsely than he had intended. Hotaru had done quite a number on him, but at this point he wasn't sure that he didn't deserve it.

The kunoichi's concern grew at the roughness of his voice. She slipped around in front of him to look him in the face, gasping softly as she forced him to stop. "Sasuke, what happened? Did you two have a fight?" Her eyes narrowed, and he was startled to hear an edge to her tone. "What did you do this time?"

His head snapped up as he grated out, "Me? Why would you assume that it's _me_ that did something?!"

Sakura snorted and grabbed his chin in a business-like manner, turning his heard back and forth a bit before he swatted it away, replying tartly, "Because, as she would say…you're a tactless bastard, Sasuke. Is she going to be home to patch you up when you get there?"

He shrugged a little uncomfortably. "Like she could patch up anything…" At her glare, he found himself wondering what exactly the two former Mist-nin had been teaching her. He continued reluctantly, "Yeah, where else would she go in this shit? If she's not with you, she has to be at home." He heaved a silent sigh of relief as that seemed to satisfy her. It was bad enough that she had seen him like this to begin with, without compounding it by letting her treat him. He was sure it was all worse than it looked in this darkness.

She frowned and watched him measuringly for a moment before nodding. "Fine, off you go then. Can you ask her to come to my place tomorrow evening for me? I won't be there for morning training; Haku and I are going to work on some practical applications of some of my lessons at the hospital." When he nodded curtly she moved off, leaving him be.

The remaining walk back to the apartment was miserable…he was cold and getting stiff by the time he got there, and Hotaru's questions still wouldn't leave him alone. He was almost hoping she would be sulking in her room when he got there so that he wouldn't have to deal with her until he had them sorted out. When he slipped into the apartment he thought nothing of the darkness in the main room and the hall. She had gone home well before sunset, and had probably immediately holed up in her room like he had suspected, so of course the lights would be out. He wasn't even alarmed when there was no light under her door in the darkened hallway, figuring that she must be trying to hide from him. Well, that suited him just fine. He wasn't ready to face her yet, not until he had answers to some of her questions.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The rain was cold spring rain, nearly freezing, and getting colder as the darkness fell. It ran down the comforting, solid stone, pooling under and around her in the crevices of the tribute to her hero. It dribbled over her skin in icy trails, made her clothing heavy, plastered her hair to her face…and she didn't care a bit. Maybe Sasuke had the right of it all. She had fought so long and hard to turn opinions of her, but nothing ever changed. Even _he_ didn't seem to understand. If he didn't, was there _anyone_ that could? The cold was seeping into her skin now, chilling her to the core…numbing her. She welcomed the numbness as needed relief, embracing it as a shield from the terrible way her thoughts were turning. This was so unlike her, but everyone had moments. She rested her forehead against the chilled stone, willing the numbness to spread faster. She would just let the numbness carry her away until she could sort it all out properly…

**-~|(●****)|~-**

He had shed his soaked clothing, and was sitting in the middle of his bed with his knees hugged to his chest, staring at his mirror. It had shaken him when he had seen that mirror after the festival, so much that he hadn't been able to have it removed. He'd simply covered it and went about his business, which had seemed so much clearer in wake of the events of that evening. He was an avenger. Relationships had no place in that. His spars with Hotaru were definitely improving him at an increased pace though, so he had continued them without protest. Every time she had pushed ahead of him, he had pushed that much harder to surpass her. Her rate of growth was incredible, and he had found himself hard pressed to keep up with her at times. Before he had crawled onto his bed he had uncovered it though, to stare at it in silence as he tried to sort it all out.

All of those questions today though…what could she possibly have meant? He could answer some of them, but some of them raised yet more questions. Why did he have to avenge them? Because they were his family! Why did he have to kill Itachi? Because his brother had slaughtered them all, of course! What had she meant when she had said there was more to it then that? What more could there possibly be? Her next questions were less obvious, more difficult to wrap his mind around. Did he have to lose his humanity to do it? He wasn't sure how he was losing his humanity, but she seemed to know. Did he have to become like Itachi? He didn't have a clue what she meant by that one. How would killing Itachi make him like the man that had coldly killed an entire clan? Coldly…could that have something to do with it? What had she meant when she had asked if he could do it his way? And what the _hell_ had she meant when she asked what it would accomplish? How could she possibly know his reasons better than he did? She had never had a family! She didn't know what it was like to lose them all!

A sudden shadow in the darkness of his window had him reaching for the kunai under his pillow, until the window opened and resolved into the form of his lazy sensei. Sasuke growled, "Get out."

The jounin flicked on a lamp and then raised his eyebrow at the mirror, starting off in a conversational tone. "Nice. I don't suppose that Hotaru told you were she was going, did she? She doesn't seem to be in her room."

The raven frowned and snapped, "Of course she's in her room, where else would she be? She wasn't with Sakura. What time is it?" He shifted to the edge of the bed so that he could grab some dry clothing.

Kakashi shrugged with apparent indifference. "I'm not sure, but I was just in her room. It's close to midnight. I didn't see your dead body tied to the tree when I went back, so I came to check on you two. Did you have a nice little discussion?"

A growled, "Hn," was all the answer he gave the jounin as he tugged his shirt over his head, wincing a little.

It just wasn't a good day for him, since the wince attracted his sensei's attention. He found his head being forced up by a strong grip as Kakashi got a good look at his injuries and let out a low whistle. "My, my, she did quite a job on you, Sasuke-kun. We'll have to treat those when we come back if you want to be able to see from that eye tomorrow."

He wretched himself from the man's grasp and snapped, "We're not going anywhere, she's got to be in her room." He stomped out and across the hall, throwing open her bedroom door and flicking on the light without even knocking…only to discover that Kakashi was correct. Her bed was untouched…she hadn't been in the room all night. He whirled around, eyes narrowing as he demanded, "Where is she?"

The masked man rolled his eye and replied patiently, "If I knew I wouldn't have bothered asking you. I checked all the usual places and came up with nothing. We need to go find her. I'd like you to go ask Iruka-san for places she may have gone, I'll go ask Hokage-sama."

Sasuke nodded in grim agreement, grabbing some rain gear before heading out without another thought.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She felt as though she was frozen solid, numb down to the core of her being. She could distantly feel herself shivering, but it wasn't until she discovered that she couldn't get her numb limbs to respond to conscious command that she started to feel the first stirring of alarm. How long had she been sitting there? She couldn't tell…couldn't tell how long she had just sat and stared blankly into the rain and the darkness. She tried to push herself up in sudden panic, but found she could only push herself away from the stone enough to fall onto her side. How could she have been so _stupid_? This kind of weather, this kind of exposure, killed! They'd all been taught that, but she'd never really thought about it until it was far too late…how typical of her! She groaned and tried to crawl her way off the stone, the spark of her own stubborn nature refusing to let a moment of stupidity kill her. She had to get moving to restore feeling, she thought she remembered that much. Her movements could be measured in inches though…she just couldn't feel enough to move, and the water that poured onto the stone made it slick.

She was about ready to scream in frustration when she heard a startled cry above her. She wasn't in any shape to protest as she was turned over. She found herself staring into a pale face, one eye the familiar ebony, while the other was bruised and swollen shut. There were two voices above her, shouting frantically over the rain. She only actually understood bits of it. Exposure was mentioned, as was the fact that her lips were apparently blue, and a great deal of swearing. As she was scooped up into warm arms she wondered fuzzily if she looked strange with blue lips.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura sighed softly as she stared out her bedroom window at the rain while Ino chattered inanely beside her. So deep was she in thought that it was only after several minutes of silence that she realized that her best friend and rival was staring at her with a strange expression. She finally turned to look at the blond. "What? What's wrong?"

Ino raised an eyebrow slightly. "You haven't heard a word I said, Forehead-girl, have you?" When Sakura shook her head she shrugged and leaned back in her seat. "I said, are you really so sure that she's the one he's after? I mean, I heard he's been treating her like the rest of us lately…we have…"

Sakura cut her off with a snort. "We have no chance with him, Ino. None…and I think the only people that don't see it now is the two of them. They fight and fight, but when it comes down to the things that really _matter,_ I think they'd do whatever they have to. Did you know he's been tutoring her in theory?" At the blond's surprised look she continued, "In a lot of things, she's never going to be as good at it as Sasuke or I, but in others…I think she's going to have us panting to keep up. Kaka-sensei seems to think so, and Zabuza-sensei has implied it too."

Ino rolled her eyes, running her fingers through her luxurious hair absently. "Really, what does she have that _we_ don't, Sakura? She's rude and acts as much like a boy as he does! She's not pretty or graceful; she has no manners at all…what good would she do him as a wife? We'd be so much better!"

Sakura gave her a skeptical look and drawled, "Really…is that what you think? That _Sasuke-kun_ wants a pretty little doll, fit for nothing but to be paraded around?"

The blond flushed and retorted, "We're not useless. We're kunoichi, for kami's sake!"

The other girl chuckled softly. "We're useless compared to him, or her. Do you really want to be staring at their backs for the rest of your life, Ino-pig? Yes, she's rude, she's stubborn, and she does stupid things. But she's also kind, and intelligent in a different way…and stronger than the rest of us. She refuses to bow down to him, something that we're all so used to doing that it's second nature. She gives him her honest opinion on _everything_, and refuses to blindly accept anything he says. She forces him to think in ways that none of _us_ do." She leaned in closer to her friend, watching the blond's confused expression carefully. "She's good for him, Ino. And he's good for her. Haku-chan and I have been talking about it a lot."

Ino sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's hard to let go though, you know? Especially when that damned girl keeps rubbing it in everyone's face without even realizing it. It's so hard to be mad at her though. Who knew that dumb _Naruto_ would turn out to be such a fun person?" She glanced outside and grimaced. "It's a good thing I'm staying the night here, because that rain looks killer…" She frowned suddenly and squinted hard at two blobs coming down the street in the rain. "Who would be out at in this? Are they crazy?"

Sakura turned to look out at the blobs as they got close enough to resolve into mostly human shapes. One seemed to be carrying someone…she looked a little harder, and then her eyes widened as she bolted out of her chair. "That's Sasuke and Iruka-sensei!" She was scrounging for rain gear when Ino got up behind her.

The blond grabbed the jacket that was shoved into her arms. "Sakura? What's wrong? Who was he carrying, I couldn't see?"

Her green eyes were filled with concern as she shoved her arms into her own jacket and replied, "Hotaru…Sasuke was carrying Hotaru."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

As Sasuke hurried through the rain with his burden he was grimly silent…on the outside. Inside, he alternately cursed both her and himself, enraged at something, but he couldn't have said what. He was scared, incredibly scared. He hadn't been this scared since Zabuza had nearly killed her. Her lips had looked so blue, but he held on tightly to the fact that there had still been that spark of fire in her eyes, that sign of life and fight that was so unique to her. She had stopped shivering shortly after he had picked her up, but he wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.

When the two girls pounded up to join them he yelled over his shoulder to the chuunin that was with them, "Iruka-sensei, could you please go find Kakashi? The girls can help me when we get in." He felt more than saw when the brunette nodded and took off in another direction. He was already getting chilled, since he had wrapped his jacket around his friend the moment they found her. He couldn't imagine how she had stood it to be out in the icy rain that long.

The moment they made it into the apartment he started giving orders. "Sakura, go run a bath…warm, but not hot. We have to get her warmed up. Ino, there are blankets in the hall closet. Get a few; I'm going to start undressing her." He shot the girls a glare as they both started to protest and snapped, "It's not going to be the first time I've seen her naked. We don't have time to argue!" He shoved Sakura into the bathroom ahead of him, laying Hotaru on the floor gently so that he could get her clothing off of her. As he started stripping her he was relieved to see her start shivering again, clinging to that visible sign of life. Without a second thought he stripped down to his boxer shorts as he waited for the tub to fill, ignoring Sakura's startled exclamation when she turned around to see him pick up the shivering girl.

She got out of his way promptly enough as he carried their teammate into the tub with him and then moved to lay out towels for him. "What are you doing Sasuke?"

He settled Hotaru onto the seat in the tub and held her in place while he looked up at Sakura. "What does it look like…I'm keeping her from drowning. The idiot isn't awake." His tone was neutral to most, but she had spent enough time to recognize the concern in it, as well hidden as it was.

She frowned and then sighed. "I'll go help Ino-pig and let the adults in. We'll have everything ready by the time you get out…should I drag some chairs into her room?" When he nodded absently, all of his attention focused on Hotaru, she gave up and left the bathroom.

He settled in beside her, rubbing her freezing hands and willing the water to warm her up faster. He kept his relief well hidden as the color started returning to her lips. He wasn't sure how long they were in the tub, but he continued to add hot water every time the water cooled until her shivering had almost stopped. Her body seemed pretty close to normal temperature when she finally started to rouse. Her blue eyes opened a slit, staring at him fuzzily with unfocused eyes. "S-Sasuke? Where…? Wha…?" Her words seemed to slur a little, which he didn't think was a good thing.

He pulled her in a little closer to him so that he could be sure she was seeing him. "Shh, it's okay. You're home…you're going to be fine."

She let out a small sigh and immediately complained as she laid her head down on his shoulder, "H-Head hurts…an' I'm c-cold." She lost her grasp on consciousness again immediately.

He frowned then, noting that she wasn't cold at all anymore…in fact, she was a little _too_ warm, and seemed to be getting warmer by the second. "Shit…" He scooped her out of the tub, wrapping her in the towels before carrying her off to the bedroom, not bothering to dry off. Ino's eyes just about popped out when he carried her in, still dripping. The two adults in the room looked up as he shoved the stunned blond out of his way to carry his burden to the bed, getting her dried off before tucking her in carefully. A shadow loomed over the bed. Kakashi or Iruka…he wasn't immediately sure which, but to whoever it was he said tightly, "Fever. She said her head hurt, and that she was cold. Someone needs to go get a medic."

"No." His head snapped up at Kakashi's voice, and he found that it was the jounin standing over the bed. The masked man continued on, "We can't. We can't trust any medic here to treat her properly, if they would even agree. We'll take care of her ourselves."

Sasuke's eyes blazed as he grabbed a towel and started drying himself off roughly. "You're kidding, right?" He heard the two girls agree, but Iruka came to stand behind Kakashi, his brown eyes sad as he lent the jounin his silent support. "What the hell do you mean? Why does everyone hate her so much?"

Kakashi watched him impassively. "That's not our tale to tell." He changed the subject briskly to discourage curiosity. "If we all take turns we'll be enough for a simple fever. Iruka and I have enough medical training, and so does Sakura. We can also call Zabuza and Haku." He turned to the girls. "Can you two go get some supplies together? If Sasuke doesn't have the right medicines I'll give one of you money to go get some. We'll need a pitcher of water in here, and we need to make sure we have enough broth. Her fever won't last long, a day or two at most, but we'll have to keep lots of liquid in her."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She burned and froze. Time did strange things, at some times seeming like it was it was crawling along, at others seeming to rush by too quickly to grasp. Sometimes she heard the voices that were in the room with her, but often she found she was screaming herself hoarse in the grip of nightmares that left her with nothing more than the vague impression of bloody violence and eyes…horribly dead eyes, not always the same color. Sometimes blue, sometimes green…there were grey eyes and brown eyes, even violet eyes. The impressions of blood and gore were the strongest when the eyes were black. She fought the people caring for her at times, mistaking them for the enemies in her dreams, or simply trying to rid herself of the confining feeling of the blankets they kept tucking in around her so carefully.

She was also somewhat aware of other things, when she heard voices in the room with her. She was aware of being fed things she didn't really taste, of being steered around to relieve herself. She was aware in the worst of her nightmares of people attempting to comfort her, though she really couldn't have said who. But most of all, she was aware of a single presence…one that never left her side even once the entire time.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

She had no idea what time it was, or even what day it was, when she finally truly awakened. Her head still ached, but less than before. She groaned softly and brought a hand up to cover her eyes. "Am I dead yet?" There was an instant response from the presence at the side of her bed. As she heard the rustle of movement, she took her hand away from her face…only to have a disorienting blur of white and black swarm into view. "Shit! What the hell!" She squirmed away from the thing until Sasuke came into focus, his expression as unreadable as it had been the last time she saw him.

He looked into her eyes for a moment, seeming to make sure that she was really focusing on him…and then started glaring. "What the hell? Shouldn't I be the one asking that? What the hell did you think you were doing up there, Hotaru?!" His voice was rising…she could almost see the dam holding his emotions in check bursting. Her eyes widened as she watched anger, fear, confusion, concern, all chasing each other around in his eyes. His face remained locked in that glare as he started shouting, "What were you thinking?! Were you thinking at all?! You could have killed yourself!"

The door opened behind him, neither of them paying a bit of attention to it…until a flash of pink appeared beside Sasuke, and a fist connected with his jaw unexpectedly with enough force to stagger him for a moment. Sakura's eyes were blazing as she growled, "Uchiha Sasuke, you can either sit down and shut the hell up…or get out. Take your pick." The kunoichi promptly ignored her stunned teammate, and it was at that point that Hotaru noticed that Sakura was starting to lose that soft look that the kunoichi her age had. She was more…muscular, more graceful. Better defined. Her own eyes were wide with surprise as Sakura turned to her and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Hotaru, I wouldn't have left you alone with _him_ if I'd known _that_ was going to be the first thing he did when you woke up." She gave the raven a sour look before moving over to the bed and sitting on the edge.

He returned her look with a snort. "Why can't more girls be like the two of you? You're a pain in the ass, but I think I prefer that to the useless attempts of others to throw themselves at me." He sat abruptly, returning to his occupation of glaring at Hotaru.

Sakura giggled. "You mean you wouldn't miss the attention, Sasuke? I'm shocked!" She turned to the blond, raising an eyebrow. "Of course, I'd like to know what you were doing out there too, but I guess it can wait until after I go tell everyone you're finally awake. Now, I know you won't be feeling well just yet, so…if Sasuke bothers you, let me know!" She grinned and bounced off, leaving her teammates staring after her like she was nuts.

Hotaru blinked a few times. "I'd really like to know what Zabuza and Haku have been doing with her. She's getting weird…" She squirmed back into the middle of the bed, wrinkling her nose at how dirty she felt…the feeling of dried sweat just made her want to scratch all over.

The raven rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Like you're one to talk, dead last…" She could tell that Sakura's punch had been exactly the right thing to do, oddly enough. Sasuke seemed a lot calmer now…a lot more like himself.

She smirked at him, feeling better by the minute. "You seem to be human again, bastard. What happened?" She snuggled up under the blankets, watching him for the expected annoyed look.

She was a little startled when, instead of becoming annoyed, he looked thoughtful. "I had plenty of time to think about what you said while you were sick. I don't understand all of it…" and an annoyed look _did_ cross his face at that admission, "…but I'm starting to a little." He got up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "You were right." Her eyes widened at that unprecedented statement, but he continued on calmly, "There's more to it than I thought, and I haven't figured it all out yet." His expression turned a little strange at that point, but this was history in the making, so she knew better than to interrupt him. "I think I want…"

She didn't get to find out what he thought he wanted though, because they were interrupted by the arrival of Sakura with everyone else. The raven's expression turned stony as the others barged in, and she could see in his eyes that he was about to bolt…but she wasn't having any of that. As he turned to slide off the bed, she grabbed his hand, holding onto it fiercely as she faced the others in the room, watching their relieved expressions. She grinned at the others and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry for making you all worry!"

Kakashi answered for the group. "The fever broke this morning. I trust you know to never do that again?" When she nodded vigorously, he laughed. "Well, you seem better. One more day of rest and we'll start training again, I know how quickly you recover. And since I'm sure you want a bath now, I think we'll all just leave…Sasuke has proven capable of helping you with that." He gave them that smiley look of his before shooing everyone else out, ignoring their protests.

Sasuke turned to her as they left, frowning. "Will you be fine to start training tomorrow? You were out for three days. That bastard wouldn't call a medic…" The shadow of anger crossed his face.

She patted his hand. "Yeah, I'll be fine. He was right not to call a medic, they wouldn't have helped me." She shrugged a little and gave him the puppy-eyed look that Haku had been teaching her. "Can I have a bath now please? I feel so…gross. And you don't look so great yourself." She prodded his side suspiciously. "You did it again, didn't you? You probably need a bath just as much as I do."

He graced her with a disdainful look as he slipped off of the bed, which she countered with a smirk. He replied airily as he reached the door, "I have no idea what you're talking about, dead last. I'm going to run that bath now, since you're obviously too weak to do it yourself." He ducked the thrown pillow with a smirk and went off to run the bath.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage's desk, facing the elderly leader with clear relief. "She's awake. She should be fine by tomorrow, Hokage-sama. The event seems to have closed the rift that was growing between her and Sasuke. I think she would have closed it eventually, but she managed to give him a good scare."

Sarutobi nodded, pulling the stem of his pipe out of his mouth. "I see. Well, at least some good came of this unfortunate event. Even I didn't guess she'd do something so stupid. You should go get some rest, Kakashi. I'm sure they'll want to make up for lost time tomorrow." Once the jounin had taken his leave, he turned to a figure just out of sight. "Would you have intervened, Jiraiya? I know you were aware that she was out there."

The other man shrugged. "Not until they were already on their way, sensei. If they hadn't been, I would have. Enough of that though…I'm leaving for at least a month. I've heard some disturbing rumors that I'd like to find some solid information about."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Rumors? What kind of rumors?" He took a slow puff of his pipe.

The Sannin shook his head. "Nothing I want to bring up without something more to tell you. Except for one thing…Uchiha Itachi was spotted briefly by a border outpost in River Country. That's too close in my mind, so you may wish to keep a close eye on Uchiha Sasuke. If you can find missions that keep them close to the village, it may be wise."

Sarutobi shook his head. "I would like to, but none of the incoming missions of late have been close. I'd like to give them the chance to meet the requirements for the Chuunin Exams, which will be taking place here in a month. Will you be back by then?"

Jiraiya shrugged again. "Who knows…are they being held here this time?" At his sensei's nod, he continued, "I'll try to be back then, but I can't promise anything. If the information is important I'll stay out to pursue it."

The elderly Hokage sighed and nodded. "That's all I can ask then. It would comfort me to have you close, but if it's not possible, I'll understand. I trust your judgment, Jiraiya."

**Author's Note:** Well, I would have posted this up last night when I finished it, but we got hit with a snowstorm, and the power went out just as I was uploading it. This is kind of a more serious chapter…little bit of foreshadowing going on. Thank you to everyone that reviewed…you guys make me feel so great about deciding to go ahead with this story. It's got so many alerts and favorites, I don't even know what to say…except thank you. Happy reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...just my own twisted fantasies.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The elderly Hokage watched the crowd of jounin on the other side of his desk evenly. This announcement was going to come as a surprise to some, but not to others. When he was sure that they were all there, he cleared his throat and got started. "As some of you may have noticed, it's that time of year again. The Chuunin exams will be starting tomorrow, and this time it is Konoha's turn to host them. Konoha must be represented in the exams, so I will take nominations today for the exams. You all know what these exams involve, so I trust that you all know not to nominate your team unless you're sure they're ready. Those wishing to nominate their teams for entrance into the exams, please step forward." He kept a neutral expression as the sensei of all three rookie teams stepped forward to nominate their teams, nodding gravely as Iruka stepped forward to protest the nomination of students so fresh out of the Academy. The exchange between the chuunin and Kakashi clearly had him upset, which prompted him to step in before things got out of hand. "Iruka, I realize you're simply concerned about your students, but I trust in the judgments of their current sensei. They are all aware of what the Chuunin exams are like, and wouldn't risk precious children of Konoha without due consideration. If it would ease your mind, a special qualification test can be arranged for the first year genin today." He smiled slightly as the brunette agreed, and then nodded to the jounin present to continue on with the nomination process.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The two weeks of training had passed by quickly. She mourned the loss of training time while she was sick, but as Sasuke kept telling her…she had no one to blame but herself for her own moment of stupidity. She had gotten a stern talking to by Iruka for frightening him, and another from Kakashi…and yet another from the old man. She was certain that if it weren't out of character for Zabuza she would have gotten one from him and Haku as well. Sakura had seemed to sense that she'd had her reasons, even if they weren't very good ones, and didn't bring it up at all. They had all made quite a bit of progress in those two weeks…and Kakashi had concluded with some frustration that she wasn't cut out to play shogi yet. He spent three evenings straight trying to teach her the basics, but she just wasn't good with cold, methodical planning. Her best strategies were also her most spontaneous, made on the fly once she'd had time to get a measure of the enemy's capabilities.

Kakashi ended up giving them a day of rest before they started taking missions again. The missions were short C-rank missions, mostly classed that way because that was what the client paid for. All in all…she was bored again. She wasn't sure why the old man was only giving them short missions, but she was getting rather sick of it. What was the point of a month of training if he was going to follow it up with two weeks of easy missions?

She wasn't fond of the bright morning sunshine, but she went through the motions of being awake. She was reasonably sure that if she did something stupid the bastard would stop her. Maybe. Okay, maybe he would smirk and laugh as she got herself into trouble, but a girl could hope, right? Breakfast was barely tasted, since it wasn't ramen. The ass kept insisting that she have a proper breakfast, especially if she insisted on eating ramen for lunch, and went so far as to cook it himself…and then sit there and glare silently until she ate it. Of course, at that point in the morning she was far too sleepy to bother fighting with him. She had to admit, though never to Sasuke's face, that she did feel somewhat better with a nearly proper diet. Not that she felt bad to begin with, but it was making a difference all the same.

She grimaced as she stepped out into the cheerful glaring of the early morning. It was depressingly lovely, and they were going to probably waste it on yet _another_ over-classed mission. Well, no more. She was going to protest to the old man, this was really just too much. She was shuffling on sleepily behind Sasuke, ignoring the black looks of the villagers with practiced indifference, when he suddenly stopped. She shoved him aside inelegantly to see what he had stopped for, and was greeted with the sight of a large square rock…with eye holes and feet. She snorted as Sasuke stepped aside, and then yelled at the box, "You don't expect that to fool anyone, do you?!"

There was a small puff of smoke, followed by some coughing…and then three children tumbled out of the smoke, attempting to look cool. And failing miserably. She stared at them disbelievingly as the one in the lead laughed. "Ah! I should have known you would see through our brilliant disguise, boss!"

She stomped up and smacked the side of his head. "Konohamaru! We're going to have to work on that, you idiot. That's got to be the worst disguise I've ever seen!"

The little boy shot a glare behind her as she heard Sasuke's amused snort, and then grinned up at her brightly. "You should ditch him and come play ninja with us boss! You haven't played with us in forever!"

She felt Sasuke come up behind her. He was almost unbearably smug as he told the kids, "She doesn't need to play ninja, she is one, and we have missions to do. Go find your little Academy friends to play ninja with."

Konohamaru stuck his tongue out at the raven. "You just wait; some day I'm gonna beat you and take Hotaru-nee-chan as _my_ girlfriend!" The boy cackled and turned to bolt, only to run face first into a pair of black-clad legs. Startled, the boy looked up at the stranger with wide eyes, stammering, "I'm s-sorry mister!"

Hotaru watched as this newcomer picked up her little friend by the front of his shirt. His face was grim, angry, and done up in purple war paint. As he shook the boy a little, she was startled to note that the teen's forehead protector wasn't one of Konoha's. Her anger flared as she watched the boy struggle in the stranger's grip, and she felt Sasuke tense in unison with her. She snapped, "Hey, put him down! You're not from Konoha, what are you doing here!"

The strange boy sneered, as another teen stepped out from behind him. The girl was blond, with her hair bound into four pigtails, and a huge weapon of some sort on her back. "Don't you know anything? We're supposed to be here. If your sensei didn't tell you that much, you're obviously not worth our time."

Fire threaded its way into her veins as she heard someone approach behind her. Sakura's voice broke into the tense pause. "Guys, what's happening? Who are they?" She felt Sakura step into place beside her, not sure of the situation, but ready to help nonetheless.

Sasuke was cool and ready on her other side, his chakra flaring as he sized up their opponents. "Intruders. Put the boy down before we need to make you."

The boy in black let out a short, contemptuous laugh. "Make us? Just who do you think you are?"

Hotaru was starting to move, ever-so-slightly, when another unfamiliar voice commented in a dead tone, "He is Uchiha Sasuke. Put the boy down, Kankuro, we're not here to start a fight…yet"

She was slightly startled when the older teen complied with a hint of fear, and looked up to see the owner of the voice that had gotten such immediate obedience. The redheaded teen didn't look much older that her, but the cold look in his jade green eyes hit her with a force that made her shiver involuntarily. As the boy jumped out of the tree, Konohamaru retreated to a position behind her and her teammates. She held her ground as the redhead's attention turned to her, looking her over with a hint of interest. There was something about him…something she could feel, something that called her.

She could almost hear the growl behind Sasuke's tone as he sized up the redhead and told him, "I don't know what you're here for, and I don't care. If you don't want to start an incident, proceed to where you belong."

The creepy boy chose to ignore Sasuke for a moment, looking right into her eyes. She found that she couldn't look away. "I have no information on you…I am Sabaku no Gaara."

She smirked a little. She rather liked the fact that she was pretty much unknown to this creep. "I'm Uzumaki Hotaru, future Hokage, so you better move along before me and my team make you." The raven beside her was starting to get angry at that point. She could feel him almost vibrating with inexplicable rage.

The redhead chuckled mirthlessly and broke eye contact. "Uzumaki Hotaru. I look forward fighting you, Uzumaki Hotaru. And you as well, Uchiha Sasuke. This promises to be…interesting." With that, the trio of foreign teens turned and walked off, quickly losing themselves in the crowded street.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

That particular morning, Kakashi was even later than usual. None of them were really impressed…she was on the verge of dozing off against the railing of the bridge after the morning's excitement and, to her everlasting annoyance, Sasuke kept poking her to keep her awake. Sakura simply leaned against the railing, watching the water flow by as she toyed idly with a senbon, obviously deep in thought. Finally, Sakura turned to the pair and voiced her thoughts in a soft voice. "Hotaru…why were you pretending to be a boy to begin with? What's wrong with being a kunoichi? Konoha has plenty of strong kunoichi…"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. Hotaru could see the curiosity in his eyes, but he had never quite found the right time to ask her this particular question. She didn't exactly want to talk about it, but with two pairs of eyes practically boring holes into her, she felt compelled to give them _something_. She turned to lean on the rail, staring at the water uncomfortably as she thought out her answer. She finally replied, "Kunoichi and shinobi aren't seen the same at our age, and aren't _trained_ the same. The standards are different, and it's harder for a girl to get the same _kind_ of training that a boy does. The focus is different in early training of girls, and they aren't given a choice about it. When the boys are out practicing practical combat skills, the girls are off learning to arrange flowers, or practicing formal table manners, or all sorts of things that aren't combat related. Why the difference? Girls aren't any weaker than boys, but that puts them behind right from the very start. Which makes the way they're looked at different, even though it doesn't have to be. We have plenty of female jounin that are just as good as the males. Why does the Academy look at 'top shinobi' and 'top kunoichi'? Why not just 'top student'? It's…expected that the top girl won't be up to the same level as the top boy. Why? What makes the boys so much better? Then, when we graduate…the girls all have to work twice as hard to play catch up with their male teammates, which can be dangerous. I had enough problems as it was without being behind too…"

The raven scoffed at her. "Don't tell me you figured all that out when we were the age to start at the Academy, dead last…"

She shrugged a little. "Not in that many words, no. But it was something I could see instinctively, I guess. I got…picked on a lot, and that's the kind of thing you can pick up on fast when you have to." She grimaced and shook her head. "Look, can we talk about something else? I'll tell you guys more some other time, but I'm really not ready to yet…"

She missed the look her teammates exchanged behind her head, but was instantly aware when their sensei suddenly appeared. Her eye twitched, and just as he was about to greet them she turned and pointed at him, yelling, "You're late! Really late, you lazy bastard!"

Kakashi smiled. "Now Hotaru-chan, what kind of greeting is that for your beloved sensei?" As her eye twitched again, he rushed on, "I had a meeting with Hokage-sama this morning that I couldn't miss. You may have noticed some of the foreign ninja around the village this morning…" When that immediately caught their attention, he continued, "They're here for the Chuunin Exams."

Sakura gasped, but it wasn't ringing any bells with Hotaru. "Chuunin Exams? Why would a bunch of foreign ninja be here for the Chuunin Exams?"

She grunted as Sasuke smacked the back of her head and replied for Kakashi. "Every village takes turns holding the Chuunin Exams, so that each village can evaluate the new ninja of the other villages. It helps to keep one village from getting too much stronger than the others."

She smacked him back as Kakashi chuckled at them. "That's right, Sasuke, thank you. Now, I nominated all of you for entry into the Exams." He pulled the applications out of his vest and handed one to each of them. "You need to enter as a team. I won't lie to you…this will be the most dangerous thing you've been asked to consider doing to date. But I'm sure the three of you will manage to pass with flying colors." He gave them his smiley look. "Now, the three of you have the rest of the day off. Should you decide to take the exam, you must present your applications as a team to the examiner in room 1 of the third floor of the Academy at 09:00 tomorrow. Later kids!" The masked jounin walked off, leaving his three students staring after him.

Hotaru looked down at the application in her hand with a frown, and then looked back up at her teammates. Sasuke's face was unreadable, but she had a pretty good guess as to what was going on in the bastard's head. That left one unknown…she turned to the kunoichi, who was staring at Sasuke. "So, it comes down to you, Sakura."

Jade eyes turned to stare at her, and the girl's voice came out as a squeak. "Me? What about Sasuke? Or you?" Her hand was trembling as the two of them replied in unison, "We're ready." She shook her head. "I…I just don't know guys. I mean…the Chuunin Exams are _dangerous_, really dangerous. There are always deaths! There are no real rules! Not all genin are equal, you know, and we're just rookies!"

Hotaru snorted and handed her application off to Sasuke, and then took one of Sakura's hands in both of hers. "Look, you're right. Not all genin teams are equal." A cocky grin lit her face as Sakura's eyes met hers. "We're better than them, and don't you dare doubt it! We've got the prissy Ice Prince over here, who is the fastest, smartest boy in our year, and only getting better." She ducked the raven's attempt to smack her with a little smirk. "We have me…I hit hard, take a beating, and refuse to take 'no' for an answer. I'll be a damned bad Hokage if I give up over a little 'danger'." Sakura couldn't resist a nervous chuckle at that. "And then we have you, the brightest kunoichi of our year. You're forgotten more about being a ninja than I've ever known. You're getting really good with those senbon and the Suiton jutsu, and you're determined when it counts. We couldn't do this without you, you know."

Sakura wrinkled her nose and replied wryly, "You couldn't apply without me anyways. Let me…think about it. I'll meet you here tomorrow at 08:00 with my answer."

The blond was sure that was all the answer she was going to get for now, so she nodded and grinned. "Just don't forget to fill the thing out!" She grabbed the Uchiha's hand and led him off, almost laughing out loud at his sudden discomfort as she declared loudly, "You and I need to have a little talk now, bastard, so it works out!"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura watched her teammates walk off, conflicted by the gravity of the decision she was being asked to make. She turned and walked off in the opposite direction with a sigh. How could they possibly expect her to make such a _huge_ decision on such short notice? She grimaced and headed for the training ground she had been using in her training with Zabuza and Haku, hoping that a workout would help her clear her thoughts.

She started off with a jog around the edge of the pond, not even needing to concentrate to keep the chakra flow steady anymore. Her chakra reserves were so pitiful, how could she possibly be useful in a Chuunin Exam? Being intelligent was far from all there was to being a ninja, something that had been forcefully taught to her at Wave, and again in her recent training. She had made a lot of progress, but she wasn't naïve enough to think that it had been _enough_ progress. The teams that took the Chuunin Exams were the very best that their villages had to offer in genin, and the competition was vicious. She'd read all about past exams, and the number of fatalities just appalled her.

She was about to head back to the shore when a _shadow_, ever-so-slightly out of place, caught her eye. She immediately pulled a kunai out, mindful of the fact that the village now had strangers wandering around it, and called out, "Please show yourself!" as she took a loose defensive stance.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

They were just out of sight when Sasuke finally gathered his scattered wits enough to snatch his hand back from his blond captor. He stopped dead in the middle of the road, crossing his arms and scowling at the surprised girl. "What did you think you were doing back there?"

He wasn't sure if the blond was deliberately misunderstanding him, but her blue eyes were sparkling merrily as they met his. "She's good enough to do this, and she'll figure that out. Kaka-sensei wouldn't have nominated us if we weren't ready, right?"

The raven waved a hand irritably. "No, no, not that. What did you think you were…I mean, why did you…you know what? Never mind." He hurried off down the road, trying very hard not to think of how warm her hand had been, and blatantly ignoring her confused expression.

She ran to catch up with him, slipping around in front of him and walking backwards as she stared at him. "What has gotten into you, Sasuke? You've been acting so weird." She leaned down, and then side to side, studying his face from every angle while he steadfastly refused to meet her eyes. "You can tell me, you know…"

He rolled his eyes and growled uncomfortably, "How can I tell you something I don't know myself? Look, we need to get ready for tomorrow. Go buy some supplies, I'll start packing." He turned in the direction of the apartment, hoping that she'd take the hint and leave him alone.

She studied him for a moment longer, and then huffed and snapped, "Fine, if that's the way you want it. I'm not going to let you be a bastard all night though!" She stomped off, leaving him standing there, half frustrated and half amused.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura was a little surprised went several kunai flew out of the trees towards her, but still dodged them easily. "Show yourself! I don't know what you think you're going to get out of attacking me!" She sprinted off the water, heading for the trees at the end of the clearing, some distance from where the kunai had emerged.

She reached the tree line, but before she could enter a masked figure in a voluminous cloak landed in front of her. The person was clearly sneering at her. "I'm told you're on Uchiha Sasuke's team. I want you to refuse to take the Exam. You're the weakest, and if you refuse then he can't participate. I'll make you if I have to!" The voice was male, but unfamiliar.

The man rushed her with a kunai in hand, slashing at her several times with a speed that she wouldn't be able to evade for long. She felt the blade graze her cheek and gasped, "How dare you! You won't get away with this!" She flipped backwards to evade the next slash, and then turned and sprinted into the cover of the trees, ducking and weaving for all she was worth.

Her pursuer took to the trees, taunting her. "If you're running from me, how do you expect to make it through the exam anyway? Just say you'll give up, and I'll let you live. This doesn't have to be so hard!"

She could feel his presence in the trees behind her, and he was starting to piss her off. If she was going to refuse the exam, it would be _her_ choice damnit! All at once she decided that she wasn't going to run from this. Hotaru was right, she could do this. But first…she'd have to get rid of this guy. She pulled two handfuls of needles from her weapons holsters, not even pausing in her flight. She bounded up one of the trees, twisting as she ran, and threw the needles with hard practiced accuracy as she reached the half way point. She pushed off of the trunk she dropped down onto a lower branch, panting and staring in shock as her foe dissipated in a puff of smoke. "A kage bunshin? Just _what_ is going on here…?"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru stomped along towards the apartment, quite clearly in a peevish mood. How dare he suddenly go all bastard on her! And then, ordering her to go get supplies like some little servant girl…the nerve! She was so going to give him a piece of her mind the moment she got home! As that thought crossed her mind, she stopped dead. When had it become home? She had lived in a lot of places in her short life, but none of them had ever felt like 'home' to her. Why this place? She started walking again more slowly while she mulled it over. What was the difference between a place to live and a home? What exactly elevated a place to that status? The place was a little nicer than anywhere else she had ever lived, but somehow she didn't think that was it. She was still struggling with the idea when she reached the door to the apartment…and was instantly on alert. The door was open. Not just unlocked, but actually open a crack. Sasuke _never_ left the door open.

She drew a kunai in her free hand, inching the door open slowly and setting the supplies just inside. There was nothing immediately apparent in the living room, so she crept inside and down the hall towards the bedrooms. Sasuke's door was open, another suspicious thing. He didn't leave his door open anymore, hadn't in over a month. She knew that he was still hiding something from her, so she was sure that he wouldn't just leave the door open like this. She slipped into the room, which seemed to be empty of people, and stopped for a moment to stare in shock at Sasuke's mirror. The mirror was uncovered, and the cracks and writing were both still clearly visible. She didn't know what exactly to think of it…had Sasuke done this? Had someone else? She resolved to find out when she finally found him. Dragging her attention away from the mirror, she noticed a scroll sitting on his bed. It didn't look like one of Sasuke's scrolls, so she picked it up and unrolled it quickly. Her breath caught as she read it, and when she was finished she immediately dropped it and leapt out Sasuke's bedroom window.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke ground his teeth in frustration as he stared his opponent down and demanded, "Where is she? You said that you'd show her to me if I followed you. Well, here I am!" He clenched a lock of sunny blond hair in his fist, his blood boiling at this man's audacity. The masked, cloaked man had shown up in his apartment and insisted that the raven follow him here. When Sasuke had laughed, he had given him this lock of hair and told him that it would be in his best interest to listen if he wanted to see her again.

The man laughed. "We'll get to that in a minute. Before we get to that, I want you to agree not to attend the Chuunin Exams."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...just my own twisted fantasies.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Black eyes flashed in fury as Sasuke looked at the cloaked man in disbelief. "Is that what this is about? Why should I drop out of the Exams?" The raven sneered. "I've got the best chance of making Chuunin this exam." The boy pulled out a kunai, keeping a sharp eye on the shadow that drifted in the trees. He didn't activate his Sharingan yet, saving the chakra for when he truly needed it.

The cloaked man laughed softly at that. "Well then, you get to make a choice, Uchiha Sasuke. The Exam, or your teammate."

Sasuke froze with a million indefinable emotions and thoughts flashing by in a split second, too fast to comprehend. His eyes narrowed, flashing to crimson as he snarled, "You're bluffing. I want to see her. Now."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru slipped through the trees quietly, approaching the training ground that the scroll had indicated with a measure of caution. She wasn't sure what she was going to find. The scroll had clearly been meant for Sasuke, a threat that he needed to meet the writer of the scroll here or she would be harmed. It was obviously a trap, and she was rather stunned that Sasuke seemed to have fallen for something so obvious.

As she made her way closer to the training ground she could make out two figures through the trees. One was definitely Sasuke, but the other was made shapeless by the cloak that they were wearing. Neither of them seemed to spot her. She stopped behind a tree with line of sight, but cursed silently that she couldn't get close enough to hear what they were saying. The cover was too sparse that close, and she didn't know enough about the situation to just barge in.

As she was examining her options, it suddenly occurred to her that something seemed…off. She tensed, but before she could manage to get a kunai out of her holster a body pressed against her back. A hand slipped over her face, pressing a cloth over her mouth and nose before she could get a warning out. Her struggle was violent, but brief, and then the darkness closed over her.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The cloaked man laughed again. "Are you really so sure I'm bluffing, Uchiha Sasuke? What does this girl mean to you? Is she the means to an end?"

It was then that the raven noticed that the man before him was a kage bunshin. He spat, "What does it matter? It's not like you have her anyways." He slipped into a ready stance, bringing his hands up in preparation to run through some seals. And then…he froze again as a second cloaked man stepped out of the trees, with the now bound and unconscious blond in his arms. This one, some detached part of him noted, was real.

The kage bunshin crossed his arms and continued in a conversational tone, "Well, you've seen her now. Which is more important, Uchiha Sasuke? The Exam, or your teammate?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and growled, "That's a stupid question, isn't it? I can't take the Exam without her, so it's a moot point. Tell me what the hell you want from me!" His arms came down slowly, but his grip on the kunai tightened. Ninjutsu was out of the question, there was no real way to pull one off without endangering Hotaru, as things stood at the moment. The enemy clearly had the upper hand, for now.

The man scoffed. "You are the last Uchiha. It must have occurred to you that if you lost a teammate the Council of Konoha would find you another to allow you entry into the exam. If you want your teammate unharmed, you won't attend the Exams. If you agree, you can have her back tomorrow, after the started of the Exams. If you choose to take the Exam anyways…well, the result of that should be obvious." To make his point, the man tilted the blond's head back, pressing a kunai to her throat. His mind raced as he attempted to find alternative ways of taking the blond back.

The raven didn't allow his internal conflict to show on his face as he considered this. How could it have come to this? How could he possibly make this kind of choice? This Chuunin Exam was an important step on the path to avenging his clan, and he was more than ready to prove his strength. To skip this exam would hold him back. It would be months, at least, before he'd get another chance to prove himself like this. On the other hand though, the feelings that the blond invoked in him were…vivid. Overwhelming and baffling. He had come so much further with her driving him then he had, or _could_, alone. What was more important to him? The vengeance and fear that had been driving him since that terrible day? Or his bond with this incredible girl, who had shown him so much in so little time? The very idea of counting that bond as important ran counter to everything he'd lived for since the massacre. And then there were Hotaru's questions, which he had been struggling to understand since that rainy night. What had she meant about losing his humanity? Would continuing on the way he had been really make him like his brother?

A soft groan from the blond broke his brief distraction. She wasn't awake yet, but she wouldn't be happy when she finally roused. He watched her face for a moment before he realized that he had already made his decision. He looked up into the cloaked man's eyes and growled, "How do I know you won't double cross me? If I agree, what's to keep you from killing her anyways?"

There was a brief flash of something akin to shock in brown eyes that were strangely familiar to the raven. "When you agree, we can discuss that. Will you forgo the Chuunin Exam, Uchiha Sasuke?" The man's tone was peculiarly urgent.

Sasuke, no longer frozen by indecision, nodded without hesitation. "If I know that she will be unharmed, then yes. But if there is so much as a scratch on her, I'll hunt you down and take every bit of it out of your hide as payment."

The man stared at him for a moment, the look in his eyes appraising…and then swung the blond up into his arms, startling Sasuke as he walked over and held the girl out to him with a look of satisfaction. "I had my doubts, Sasuke, but your time as a genin has changed you, and her. You are both free to enter the Exam."

The raven took the girl, frowning as he looked up at the cloaked man. "This was a test? Why?"

The man pulled down the mask, revealing the face of their former Academy teacher, Iruka. "I was concerned that the rookies that were nominated weren't ready for the Exams. You worried me the most."

The crimson faded from Sasuke's eyes as he raised an eyebrow. "Me? That makes no sense, Iruka-sensei. I was the strongest in the class." He adjusted the girl in his arms into a more comfortable position.

The brunette nodded agreeably. "You were. But you were also the most likely to abandon your team and strike out on your own, which would be dangerous for you and your teammates. But you seem to have changed, Sasuke." The chuunin smiled at him. "You have relieved my fears. The decision will be up to you." Before the raven could reply, the older man turned and left the training ground.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke sat in one of the armchairs in his living room, watching the blond on the couch intently. She seemed so innocent in her sleep. The moment she regained consciousness was immediately apparent. He could see her tense as she assessed the situation and obviously didn't find what she was expecting. He spoke up in a dry tone. "It's about time you woke up. I thought for a bit that you were going to sleep until tomorrow."

She relaxed and opened her eyes, turning her head to look at the voice in the room. "Sasuke? What happened?" She frowned a little. "Last I remember, you were in that training ground with some guy, and then some other guy got the drop on me." She pushed herself up, watching him.

Sasuke walked over and had a seat beside her. "I took care of it." At her curious look, he continued grudgingly, "It was a test, okay? I passed, so we're free to take the Exam."

The blond blinked at that and echoed dumbly, "A test? A test of _what_?"

He grimaced and replied, "To make sure that the genin that were nominated for the exam were ready for it."

"Oh..." Blue eyes blinked again, and then a look of panic filled her eyes. "Wait, I got captured! I failed, didn't I?! I can't take the exam!!" The last part came out as a wail.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No, you passed. Don't ask. I think now would be a good time to go to bed, we're going to need plenty of sleep for this exam."

As the raven stood, strong fingers grasped his wrist to prevent him from leaving. He turned his head and looked down into deep blue eyes, surprised to see the concern there. Her jaw was set in that stubborn look of hers, but she said softly, "I think we need to talk about some things, bastard."

"Hn." Sasuke turned his head away. "What is there to talk about?" His attempt to pull his arm away from her was met with resistance. He looked down at her again and continued in a remarkably even tone, "You can let go now, dead last."

The blond snorted inelegantly and replied, "Well, how about we talk about your little fit of bastardness this morning?" The raven rolled his eyes at that. "Then, maybe we can continue with what the hell happened to your mirror…"

He stiffened, his expression shifting to an obvious glare, but deliberately ignored that second question. "Is 'bastardness' even a word? This is stupid, and we need to rest." He twisted his arm, trying to get it out of her grasp, but her fingers tightened into an iron grip. "Look, do we really need to talk about this?"

She tugged him back down and snarled, "Yes. You know what? Let's start with the mirror, since you're being such an ass." She glared back at him. "You know how this works, bastard. Either you tell me on your own, or I beat it out of you."

Blue eyes and black met, and the tenseness in the air was almost visible. The glaring contest went on for several minutes before Sasuke growled and turned his head away. "Fine. When we got home from the festival, my mirror was like that. Can we go to bed now?"

Her expression turned thoughtful, but she didn't relinquish her grip on his wrist. "The festival, huh? You never did get around to telling me what had you so spooked…" She frowned at him. "Who did it?"

He shook his head, refusing to look at her. "I…don't know, okay? This is stupid." He thought for a moment that she was going to buy it, but suddenly found himself being tackled off the couch. Before he quite registered what she was doing she was on top of him, clutching the front of his shirt with one hand while her fist connected with his face.

He brought his hands up to ward off her next attack as she hissed, "Don't lie to me, you arrogant bastard!" As he looked up, he could see the rage and concern warring in her eyes. "Don't lie to me, and don't try to avoid this. You're going to tell me what's going on, Uchiha, or we're not leaving for that damned exam."

His jaw tightened at that, and he found himself glaring at her again. "You wouldn't. That's an empty threat, and we both know it." He sneered at her. "You want this just as much as I do."

She snorted softly. "Maybe, but unlike you…I can wait. You're a walking contradiction some days, you know? Out with it already, you know you're going to tell me anyways." She stared down into his eyes, her expression full of determination. What she was determined to do, he still wasn't quite sure, but he knew her well enough now to know that she would keep at him until he gave.

He relaxed, letting his arms fall to the floor, and started in a neutral tone, "I thought I saw my brother at the festival."

Hotaru's eyes went wide as she let go of the front of his shirt. "Itachi? What would he be doing at the festival? How could he possibly make it in without anyone noticing?" She didn't bother getting off him, not that he seemed to care.

The raven shrugged a little. "How should I know? I saw his eyes in the crowd…" He trailed off, staring at nothing in particular. He wasn't sure how he felt about the incident anymore. So much had changed, and _was_ changing. He didn't know what to think now.

The blond waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Are you sure it was his eyes? There are other people with that color eyes in Konoha, Sasuke."

He shook his head, refocusing on her as he replied firmly, "No, it was him. The Sharingan is pretty unmistakable, and then adding to that the state of my mirror…there's no one else it could have been."

She stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay, so it was him. Did you tell sensei or the old man about it?" When he shook his head, she gaped at him in astonishment. "What the hell, Sasuke? What were you trying to do, keep him for yourself?" At his lack of response, he watched her eyes narrow. The expressiveness of her face never failed to amaze him. "You were…how could you be so stupid, Sasuke? We're telling them the next chance we get, got it?"

His feelings at that were distinctly mixed. He raised an eyebrow and repeated, "We? When did this become a 'we' issue?"

She smirked at him. "When you forced me to move in? Well, I think that's enough for tonight!" She bounced off of him, offering her hand to help him up. "We'd better get that sleep you mentioned!"

As he took the proffered hand and allowed her to help him up it stuck him how much she had changed him already. Fresh out of the academy, he would have slapped that hand away. He stared at her for a moment intently, wondering what else would change. He realized he was making her uncomfortable when she pulled her hand away, opening her mouth to comment. On an unusual whim, he reached up to put a finger over her lips. The startled look in her eyes was rather amusing. He stepped close and leaned into her for a moment, not giving her time to pull away as his cheek brushed hers, and he said softly into her ear, "Thank you, Hotaru." He left her in that spot, trying had not to laugh at her stunned expression as he walked off to his room.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sakura had gotten up well before sun up the next day, packing her thigh holster and waist pouch with a variety of useful items, in addition to her weapons. She counted herself lucky that Haku had found her bright enough to learn the seals required to seal extra weapons into scrolls. One could never have enough weapons, and carrying her extras in scrolls had left her room to pack medical supplies. She was no medic nin, but her training had now progress well beyond the basics that every ninja was taught. She worried for a moment that she wouldn't have enough…they hadn't been told the format of this exam yet, so she wanted to be ready for any eventuality. Still, there was only so much one could pack.

Just as the first rays of dawn touched the horizon, she left the house. She had already told her parents what was going on that day, so there would be no surprise, but she still didn't want to deal with her mother's fussing. She wanted to speak to Zabuza-sensei and Haku before the exam started. She didn't really need any advice, but some last minute assurance that she wasn't a total failure wouldn't hurt. She found them in their normal spot, by the clearing they had taken her to train at during the time she had with them. The morning was still peaceful, with the movements of her fellow ninja doing little to disrupt the cheerful morning birdsong.

She stopped as she reached the edge of the clearing when became immediately obvious that she was interrupting a private moment between the two. They tended to shy away from public display, and she was sure that she was one of the rare few that knew the feelings the two older ninja had found for each other in the aftermath of the mess in Wave. She was about to back out quietly, when Zabuza called gruffly, "You may as well come here, girl, we're not going to bite." She hesitated a moment longer, and then squared her shoulders and headed into the clearing.

Haku looked up at her from the shelter of the larger nin's arms, giggling a little as she approached. "You're welcome any time, Sakura-chan. We heard you're in for a busy day!"

Sakura nodded and settled on the ground in front of the pair. "The Chuunin Exams. I never thought that Kakashi-sensei would nominate us for them so quickly." She fiddled with the tip of a lock of her long, silky hair nervously. "I didn't know what to think."

Zabuza snorted softly. "Hatake-san thinks you're ready for it. Do you?" When she nodded, he raised an eyebrow. "Is it you that you think is ready? Or is it your teammates? If you're doing this for them, then you're doing it for the wrong reason." When the kunoichi didn't look fazed by his bluntness, he continued approvingly, "As long as you're not doing this for them."

The girl grinned. "No, Zabuza-sensei, I'm not doing this for them. I know I'm ready, and I want to prove it to myself." She patted her pouch comfortingly. "I've learned so much, I know I won't be useless like I was before."

Haku nodded approvingly, and then looked at the lock that Sakura was playing with critically. "I think we need to do something about _that_ before you go though." At the girl's confused look, he explained, "Your hair. Your hair is lovely, Sakura-chan, it would be a shame to lose it because it got in the way." Haku reached into his belt pouch and pulled out the hair pieces he normally used to hold back his own hair. "Here, let's get that pulled safely back." Sakura watched, bemused, as Haku pulled away from a slightly disgruntled looking Zabuza, moving around behind her to make short work of pulling the long, pink strands back into a firm, tidy bun. He left the girl's bangs hanging down in front of her headband, and then went back around to look at the effect. "Much better. Have you eaten yet?"

Sakura shook her head. "No…I'm too nervous, to be honest." She grimaced slightly. "I know I can do this, but we weren't told what to expect, so it makes it a little nerve wracking."

Zabuza chuckled softly. "You have nothing to be nervous about, and it will do you more harm than good to do this exam on an empty stomach. The shops should be starting to open about now. Go find something to eat." That was clearly both an order and a dismissal, so the kunoichi stood with a nod.

As she strode out of the clearing, she heard Haku call from behind her, "Good luck!"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Morning wasn't exactly 'chaotic' per se, but a certain raven certainly wasn't pleased when Hotaru had managed to sleep in. He didn't exactly grumble, but his expression told her louder than words that he wasn't impressed when she explained brightly that she was just trying to be 'well rested for the exam'. Did he fall for it? Of course not, but that wasn't really the point. The point was that Uchiha Sasuke, for all his stony expressions and disapproval, was even less of a morning person than she was. And that was saying something. She never understood how he managed to be up not just on time, but _early_ every morning. If he was generally anti-social to begin with, well…it was ten times worse in the mornings. Normally she would go about her morning routine in something of a stupor, but today was one of those days that it was just too irresistible not to bug him. So she put on her brightest face, and managed to drive him from monosyllabic answers and grunts to growls in five minutes flat. A new record!

When they finally set out to the bridge to meet Sakura, he was throwing his death glares in all directions, at anyone who even so much as breathed in his direction. It was hilarious. By the time they reached the bridge, the blond was practically in tears, she was laughing so hard…which, of course, only seemed to make the raven even angrier. As they stepped onto the bridge, Sasuke finally snapped, "Do you mind? We need to focus today, in case you've forgotten!"

Hotaru grinned and replied, "You're going to tie your insides in knots that way, bastard. Loosen up a little bit, it might be good for you." Before she could continue, she spotted Sakura making her way on to the bridge from the other direction. She waved and called happily, "I love the new hair style, Sakura! So, are you in?"

Sakura stopped in front of them, looking over Sasuke with obvious amusement before responding, "Only if we can make it there without Sasuke killing you. Have you been egging him on again Hotaru?" At the blond's guilty look, the kunoichi giggled. "How is it that only you can get such a rise out of him?"

Before Hotaru could reply, the raven said sourly, "Because she's an idiot. If you're in, then maybe we should get on with this."

Blue eyes sparkled as the blond gave him her most devastating pout…learned from Haku and Sakura, of course. "Aw, we have plenty of time, _Sasuke-kun_, what's the hurry?" She fluttered her eyelashes, ignoring Sakura's quiet laughter. "You're trying to get rid of me, aren't you? Don't you _love_ me anymore?"

Sasuke gave her a disgusted look. "You're not allowed to spend time with Haku anymore. Are you done yet?"

Hotaru broke down laughing, ignoring the glare as she fought to catch her breath. She finally gasped out, "I…I'm s-sorry, bastard, but I had to…we've got lots of time to get there, I want to get a bowl of ramen before we start." She grabbed her teammates by the hands and dragged them off before they could protest.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The sight of the familiar Academy building was nostalgic, though the genin streaming into it from all directions were older than the students that normally attended. Sasuke was on alert now, taking in as much detail about each of the unfamiliar ninja as he could. He could feel others scrutinizing his team as well, though some weren't at all subtle about it. He kept his disapproval off his face though, he was sure that those that were less than subtle would be weeded out soon enough. It amazed him that some villages would send those that were so very unqualified. Even Hotaru could manage subtly when the need arose. Not her strong suit, but still not out of the range of her abilities.

They headed inside, pausing briefly to watch the crowd of genin heading across the entry hall and up the stairs. He felt Hotaru get closer to him, turning his head slightly as she commented softly, "That's a lot of competition. I wonder where the red-head is…"

He growled softly, firmly suppressing an irrational surge of jealousy at her obvious interest. "His team may already be upstairs. Are we going up now, or waiting until it thins out a little?"

As the girls were taking a moment to consider, a flash of green spandex caught his attention just in time to dodge the foot connected to it. The owner of said foot landed gracefully, turning to flash the group a huge grin. "Ah, I should have known that the famous Uchiha Sasuke would see me! Uchiha-san, I challenge you to a fight!"

The trio stared at the boy for a moment, taking in the bowl cut and bushy eyebrows, as well as the Konoha hitai-ate wrapped around his waist. Sasuke replied coolly, "There is no need for me to fight you. I'm here to take the exam."

The boy continued to grin, declaring loudly, "I will show that hard work and the power of youth will beat natural talent! These lovely ladies can be witness to my youthful strength!" He struck the 'Nice Guy' pose, much to the bafflement of said 'ladies'.

When the strange boy looked over at Sakura with obvious infatuation, it was all Hotaru could do to keep a straight face. She stepped around Sasuke to try to head this off before the poor boy either got beaten to a pulp, or turned into a pincushion. "Fighting before the exam is forbidden, so you'll have to wait unless you want to forfeit your chance to take it."

The boy shook his head his head enthusiastically. "One spar surely will not be any trouble. I'm sure Uchiha-san wouldn't mind!" The boy took a stance before them, his eyes meeting Sasuke's expectantly.

The raven considered it for a moment, and then nodded as he decided that there would be no harm in taking this strange boy down a peg. "I'll do it." He could feel the disapproval of his teammates, but they backed off all the same to give them room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...just my own twisted fantasies.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The day was barely started, and already there was trouble for the revered old man that had led Konoha for so very long. He sighed as he stared at the chuunin that was waiting somewhat impatiently in front of his desk. "Please have one of their sensei separate them before the hall is damaged. Gai will probably be the easiest to find at this particular point in time. Dismissed." He nodded at the man as he left, waiting patiently until the door was closed before he directed his attention to the all-but-invisible shadow hovering unobtrusively behind one of the shelves at the back of the room. "Well, if you're here at this particular time, it must be important. What do you have to report?"

There wasn't so much as a rustle of fabric as the man shifted out of the shadow, his ebony eyes alert and wary for any possible interruptions. His deep voice was soft and emotionless, carefully pitched to carry no further than the elderly man at the desk. "Hokage-sama, we have been keeping an eye on the snake since he left. It seems that he is massing forces, though we have not yet seen any indication as to where his main base is. My partner and I have flushed out a few of his minor bases, but we can't go too far out of our way without drawing the suspicion of the leaders of the organization. There have also been some…disturbing rumors floating around. The snake's research into forbidden jutsu is said to be progressing, and he seems to have a great interest in collecting ninja of great potential and unique power. Uchiha Sasuke will almost certainly be a target."

Sarutobi sighed and nodded. "I had hoped that wouldn't be the case, but it was a futile hope in retrospect. We'll just have to deal with it as it comes. Any indication of where he is now?"

The head of raven hair shook slightly. "No, Hokage-sama. Unfortunately, we have not had time to look. The organization is starting to move, and chances for my partner and me to get away are rare. We're called on often."

The older man looked speculative for a moment. "Are you going to be able to keep up your cover? The longer you can remain undetected, the better it will be for us. I would like to have some warning when they intend to move against the child."

The other shrugged a little. "I see no problem in keeping our cover." A faint frown touched his lips. "Hokage-sama, I would like it noted that I disapprove of the direction in which Sasuke is developing. Close ties to the Kyuubi jinchuuriki are…"

"Dangerous?" Sarutobi chuckled softly. "It has been good for them both. They are both fiercely competitive, and placing them on the same team has allowed them to develop at their own pace. And while their third teammate isn't physically as strong as them, her intelligence is unique, and compliments their separate talents. Despite your thoughts on the matter, having someone to fight with, and _for_, is doing your brother a world of good. I severely disliked what you did to your brother in the wake of the massacre, but there was nothing that I could do at the time."

The frown on the man's lips deepened. "Hokage-sama, I did what was necessary to make him safe. His hatred will keep him from following until he is truly strong enough to handle what will be waiting out there for him. I had to be sure that he wouldn't follow."

The Sandaime Hokage shook his head at that. "There is more than one kind of strength, as you well know. Despite the direction you've tried to steer him in, he's discovering another path himself. Just as you did when you saved him that night." He chuckled softly. "Besides, what will happen on that eventual day that your mission concludes and you come home? If he were to continue on the path you turned him onto, I doubt he would listen to reason. Now…even if he doesn't _want_ to listen, she'll make sure he does. The children have been very good for each other."

The raven haired man grimaced at that reminder, and then said tightly, "Perhaps you are correct. Do as you wish with him…you will in any case."

The old man nodded in satisfaction. "I will, but it would be good to know that you're not going to actively undo the good that's been done. Kakashi told me about the mirror. Have you anything else to report?"

The elder Uchiha brother shook his head. "There is nothing else. Has Jiraiya-sama reported anything of use?"

Sarutobi sighed and shook his head. "Not yet. He left some time ago to pursue some rumors, but wouldn't tell me of what. I imagine that they probably relate to the ones you have heard. He was going to try to be back in time for the Exam, but I have had no word from him yet."

Black eyes narrowed speculatively. "Would you like us to remain close, Hokage-sama? The Exams are always a time of intrigue. I am not sure that I would feel comfortable leaving you without backup. You cannot be everywhere at once."

Again the older man shook his head. "We have the ANBU here as backup. Staying may compromise your cover, which we want to avoid if possible. Thank you for the report, Itachi-san. You are dismissed."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

"Uchiha Sasuke, I will show you that a genius of hard work is better than one to whom skills come naturally! These lovely ladies will witness my youthful fire and strength as I beat you, and the beautiful Sakura-san will notice me!" The strange boy stared longingly at Sakura, who seemed startled and rather discomforted by his obvious affection.

Sasuke was startled when his opponent launched an immediate flurry of taijutsu, though he was not so unaware that he was unprepared to meet it. He was somewhat shocked by the boy's sheer speed as he scrambled to block arms and legs that he could barely see, much less follow. He dimly registered a gasp and a growl from his teammates as the majority of his opponent's blows struck true, driving him backwards slowly. A particularly vicious kick to his abdomen sent him flying back into the smooth stone wall of the entrance hall with a grunt, but he managed to land in a crouch, well used to shrugging off crushing blows by now from his training with a certain blond. The moment it took his opponent to rush him was all he needed to activate his Sharingan, but he was shocked to find that even _that_ wasn't enough to allow him to switch to the offensive. Though he could better follow the boy's movements, he again found himself blocking blow after blow. Despite his training, he just wasn't fast enough to keep up with the other boy. Cracks developed in the wall behind him from the other genin's missed blows as Sasuke desperately tried to get around him and out from against the wall. Finally, a minute opening appeared, and he used it to drive his fist into the other boy's chest, driving him back several feet and allowing the raven to duck around him and finally get some room. He turned as he got out into the open, ignoring the ecstatic yelling of the blond behind him, and used the moment that it took the other boy to recover as an opening to grab him by the back of the spandex _thing_ he was wearing and swing him around, building momentum to heave him into one of the pillars the girls were standing by. He rushed to follow him, readying to follow with a right hook, but once again his opponent was much faster than expected…by the time the other reached the pillar he had managed to position himself to land against it and push off with legs while loosening the bandages around his arms, leaping over the raven's head and twisting in mid air to land in a crouch off to one side of him. As the raven turned, a brutal upward kick caught him under the chin and sent him once again into the air as stars and sparks exploded across his field of vision. He shook his head a little to clear it, and found himself once again startled as the other boy's chest nearly pressed to his back, with green clad arms coming up around him. He recognized Kage Buyou with a start, the vague notion that he might just be in trouble surfacing.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of white smoke below them, and a deep voice cried, "Lee, stop!"

With a startled look, the green clad boy let go of the raven, landing gracefully to look at the newcomer, and then cried, "Gai-sensei! My most humble apologies, Gai-sensei! I have disobeyed a direct order!"

Sasuke's descent was less than graceful, and he landed on the floor with an audible thump, grunting as the air rushed out of him. The moment he caught his breath a black clad arm was thrust into his line of sight, hand outstretched to help him up, and as he looked up into sapphire eyes he could _tell_ that the blond was trying her hardest not to laugh. Whether it was at the way he had landed or the fight, he wasn't entirely sure…

**-~|(●****)|~-**

As Hotaru held her hand out to the raven, she was trying to hold back the laughter. Really, she was…Sakura wasn't doing so well in that department, but Sasuke was apparently missing the muffled giggles she could hear from the kunoichi behind her. As he took her hand and pulled himself up his face twisted into one of his typical glares, and she could tell that he definitely couldn't see what was so amusing about the whole situation. Before he could go off on her about it she flicked her gaze to the spectacle behind him, nodding her head slightly to indicate that it was definitely not him they were laughing at. Or…not entirely him, at least.

He turned without releasing her hand, and she grinned widely as his eyebrow shot up at the sight before him, an unusual sign of his disbelief. The strange boy seemed almost in tears as the man with deep voice carried on in an enthusiastic bellow about the honor of shinobi and the boy's youthful responsibility to uphold both the rules of the exams and his personal nindo. The man was clad in the same green spandex suit as the boy, with his hitai-ai also tied around his waist, and a standard flak jacket that many shinobi of chuunin rank and above seemed to wear. The man sported the same bowl cut that the boy did, though his eyebrows and eyes were of more normal proportions. Other that, the two could have been father and son, the resemblance was uncanny. The older man was standing on a ninja summon turtle, of all things.

The blond blinked as the outrageous man turned his attention to them, introducing himself loudly. "I am Maito Gai, Konoha's Green Beast. I apologize for the behavior of my student. This is Rock Lee." He gestured to the boy. "You are Kakashi-san's students, are you not?" She could hear Sakura trying to get a hold of herself as she nodded at the strange man. Sasuke just pulled his hand away from hers, crossing his arms to glare at the green-clad jounin. "I thought as much. It is only natural that my youthful student would challenge the star pupil of my eternal rival!" That prompted a snort of laughter from the blond, though by some miracle Sakura managed to hold herself together when the raven shot their teammate a dirty look. "However, the flames of your enthusiasm must be saved for the exam itself! If you are caught again, you will be expelled from the exam, a certain tragedy for all. I'm sure that you will be able to contain yourself. Perhaps you should continue on now, I will need to speak with my student some more."

The boy called Rock Lee bowed low to them. "My apologies, I should have contained the flames of my determination better." He addressed his next comment directly at Sakura. "Especially to you, most radiant blossom. I would not want to have you expelled from the exam because of me!"

Sakura came forward, hastily bowing before grabbing her teammates by the elbows. "We'll leave right away, Gai-sensei, and thank you!" Still trying to contain her mirth, she dragged Sasuke and Hotaru off around a corner and down a pretty much empty hallway. When she was sure that they were out of earshot, she collapsed in laughter again, sliding down the wall until she was seated on the floor. When she finally caught her breath, she gasped out, "Can you believe those two? Kami, what kind of freaks were they?"

The blond chuckled and glanced back down the hall. "Looks like you've found yourself a boyfriend, Sakura-chan!" She grinned mischievously at the kuniochi's look of horror, leaning down. "Don't worry, Sasuke and I will protect you from Bushy Brows." She could feel the raven's smirk as Sakura sputtered indignantly. "Ah, you're almost as fun as Sasuke-bastard to tease, you know?"

She grunted and almost fell into the other girl as Sasuke cuffed the back of her head lightly, chiding in a mild tone, "Stop that, dead last. We need to get going, so save it for later." She found herself being dragged out of the way by the back of her jacket as a white-clad arm thrust past her to help the other girl up.

Hotaru hid a grin, wondering if Kakashi-sensei was at all proud of how far their teamwork had come. When Team 7 was first formed there was no way that Sasuke would have been anything but cold, and definitely no way that he would have offered to help either of them up. It was also a measure of how far Sakura had come that she could accept that offered help without squealing or getting all giddy. She wondered how much she had changed…it was hard to tell. She felt different, but at the same time she didn't. It wasn't anything she could put into words. She nodded at the raven's comment. "It was room 301 that we need to go to, right?" She started down the hall, back towards the stairs, without waiting for an answer.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke watched the blond rush off down the hall with amusement at her enthusiasm, not that he let it show on his face. He wasn't sure what it was about the blond that drove his emotions like she did, but he was starting to think he should stop questioning something that probably wasn't ever going to change anyways. He glanced at Sakura with a slight nod, and then they both followed along behind Hotaru. He commented in a soft, neutral tone, "She was right, you know. If the freak bothers you, we'll take care of it for you."

The kunoichi looked startled for a moment, but then shook her head and gave him a determined grin. "I wouldn't be much of a ninja if I couldn't deal with the romantic attention of one very silly looking boy. Thank you for the thought though."

As they climbed the stairs, they could hear a commotion at the top, getting louder with ever step. Hotaru had stopped at the top, and turned to face them. "Hey, the crowd up here is huge!" She frown slightly as they caught up to her, turning to look at the crowd of genin being kept out of a room by a pair of chuunin, confusion clouding her sapphire eyes. "Sasuke, doesn't that say room 301?" The blond scratched her head with a puzzled look. "This isn't the third floor…what's up with this crowd?"

Green and onyx eyes swept over the crowd, the chuunin, and the room sign. Sasuke replied, "A bunch of idiots? Come on, if they can't see through this, they don't deserve to participate." Sakura nodded decisively and the older pair moved off, with Hotaru following along uncertainly.

"Shouldn't we tell them?" The raven glanced over to find her staring at the other genin as they moved quietly past them, the crowd so caught up in what they were seeing that they paid the trio no mind.

He shook his head and took her hand to make sure that she didn't stop. "No, we shouldn't. I'm sure that this is part of the testing process, and telling them would not be doing them any favors."

Sakura leaned forward enough to speak around Sasuke, nodding in agreement. "If they can't see through such an elementary genjutsu, then they really shouldn't be taking the Exam, for their own safety. This is really mild compared to what the Exam itself will be like. Deaths are not uncommon in the Exam…do you really want to subject them to that level of competition before they're ready?"

By this time they were past the crowd, heading for the stairs up to the next floor at the other end of the hall. He squeezed her hand as the blond sighed, making sure that she wasn't going to weasel out of his grip, but she shook her head. "I guess you're right…" She stopped dead.

The raven turned his attention to the pair of genin in front of them, raising an eyebrow slightly because they seemed to be deliberately blocking the hall. One was male, the other female, and both of them looked older than the members of Team 7. The male had the distinctly pale and pupil-less eyes that marked a member of the Hyuuga clan, but the female was no one that he recognized. The Hyuuga was dressed in shades of brown and beige, with a dark pair of shorts and a light, short sleeved shirt. His hair long, brown hair was bound several inches from the end. The unknown girl was brunette, dressed in a Chinese style shirt and a pair of long pants, and sported a pair of buns to keep her hair back. He watched as the Hyuuga's eyes flicked to his face, then to the blond's, and finally down to their joined hands. As the other boy started to sneer, Sasuke kept his expression neutral and commented in a bored tone, "You must be a Hyuuga. I'm not impressed. Move aside, we have an exam to take. In fact, shouldn't you be there as well?" He didn't relinquish his grip on Hotaru…he really didn't want her to start something when they were so close to the examination room. He also didn't want to give the Hyuuga the impression that he was in the least bit ashamed of his friendship with the blond. He still didn't know why the village was so against her, but when had any Uchiha bowed to social norms anyways?

There was an edge of condescension to the Hyuuga's voice when he replied. "Uchiha Sasuke. I should have known you would be attending the Exam, but it never occurred to me that you would bring such trash with you." He smirked a little. "Shinobi like you and I are above lying trash like that. She has no future…why do you cling to someone whose destiny is so obviously to fail."

Sasuke could feel Hotaru tense in anger, so he tightened his grip on her hand. He definitely didn't want her getting away at this point. His eyes narrowed slightly as he said coolly, "The only trash I see here is you, Hyuuga. If all you're going to do is stand there and posture pointlessly, I think we'll be going. My teammates and I have better things to do than play ego games with you." He could feel Hotaru trying to edge away from him.

The girl with the Hyuuga gasped. "You can't talk to him like that! This is Hyuuga Neji, top of his graduating class!" The raven watched the girl start to slide into a combat stance, but before she got far a familiar form in green bounded past them, interposing himself between the two groups of genin.

"Stop! Tenten, you must save your youthful energy for the Exam!" He turned to the members of Team 7, addressing Sakura directly. "Beautiful blossom, I apologize for the behavior of my teammates!"

The girl called Tenten frowned. "Lee, you know them?"

The strange boy nodded. "Yes, we met downstairs, Tenten. Have the two of you forgotten that we may not engage in combat until the appropriate time in the Exams?"

Neji grimaced and shook his head. "We have not forgotten." He turned his attention back to Sasuke, ignoring Hotaru…it was just as well, because the blond was so incoherent with rage that the raven could feel her trembling, and the killer intent was starting to leak off of her. "I look forward to fighting you in the Exams, Uchiha Sasuke." With that, the older trio turned and continued to the stairs.

They watched them for a moment, and then Sakura turned to their blond teammate. "Hotaru…?" She leaned around to look at the other girl's face, and Sasuke could see her jade eyes widen.

He turned to the blond himself to see what the kunoichi was looking at, and found himself looking at eyes that had a distinct reddish cast to them. She was staring down the hallway after the other team, still trembling with rage. He slid himself in front of her and caught her gaze. "Hotaru, calm down. He's not worth the effort."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru wanted so badly to chase down that arrogant Hyuuga so she could rip him limb from limb. The fire was rising in her veins…she could almost taste the blood, the lust was so strong, and she could hear an indistinct whispering in the back of her mind. It was only through an iron will that she held back the fire, though the whispers were harder to ignore…she couldn't make out the words, but the tone was dark, enticing. It felt as though it was urging her to give into that rage, but the pressure of Sasuke's hand on hers helped anchor her.

It wasn't until she found herself looking into onyx eyes though that she found she could break the near trance that the bloodlust had her in, and it was then that she realized just how unlike her that rage had been. Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath, and then gave her teammates a shaky grin. "Sorry about that, guys! That arrogant prick of a Hyuuga just got under my skin…" She opened her eyes to look at them, and saw them both relax minutely. She wasn't sure what they had seen in her eyes to make them so tense, but then again she had never had the leisure to take a look in the mirror when the fire threaded her veins like that.

Sakura chuckled softly. "Hard to believe he's related to such a sweet girl like Hinata-chan, huh?"

The blond's eyes widened. "You know, I didn't even think of that! Is he a brother or a cousin, I wonder…kami, maybe his bastardness is the reason she's so shy!" She attempted to pull her hand away from Sasuke's again, but apparently he was having none of that. She wondered if he thought she was still going to try to run off.

He snorted and turned back towards the stairs, pulling her along. "Stop making up words again, dead last." Despite the monotone of his voice, she could tell that he was both relieved and amused. There wasn't much in his body language that she couldn't read these days.

She shot him a foxy grin, feeling more like herself with every passing moment now that the fire was fading. "You're just pissed that you're not as cool as me, bastard." The nicknames were a sign of affection now, rather than the insults they had started out as. She wasn't sure when that had happened…just as she wasn't sure exactly when she'd started getting this warm, uncomfortable feeling when he held her hand. She could hear Sakura laughing at their bickering from behind them, and found herself glad that the older girl didn't feel excluded. These two, and Kakashi, had become the family that she'd never had, and for some reason she wanted to make sure that Sakura felt a part of that.

He smirked at her as they climbed the stairs. "You wish…" His expression became serious. "We're going to have to talk later about what happened back there." He stopped just before the top of the stairs, looking into her eyes.

She sighed, the mood once again broken. "I know. I…I can't tell you everything. Not yet." She could see the hurt look in the eyes of her teammates, and was quick to amend, "It's not that I don't want to! It's just…hard. There are a lot of things that are going to be hard for you to understand…" She trailed off, unable to get the rest out.

Surprisingly, it was Sakura that spoke up first. "Does it have anything to do with why everyone seems to hate you so much?" The kunoichi's express was gentle and open.

Hotaru nodded slowly, reluctant to let even that much out. As she drew breath to continue, Sasuke's free hand took her chin, tilting her head up to look into his eyes. He told her firmly, "It doesn't matter what it is. We know who you are, and how we feel about you. Nothing that you can tell us is going to change that."

The blond squirmed uncomfortably as she met his gaze, and then pulled away, speaking gruffly around the lump in her throat, "Let's go get this damned exam over. If we waste any more time we'll be late." She could feel her teammates make eye contact behind her, but decided to ignore it as she all but dragged Sasuke up the stairs…since he still wouldn't let go of her hand.

There was no crowd around the real room 301. She stopped outside the door and looked rather pointedly down at Sasuke's hand. "Do you mind, bastard? Cute as your concern is, I think the people in there are gonna see that as a sign of weakness, don't you?" He snorted softly, but kept his comments to himself as he finally let go of her.

She pushed open the door, and heard Sakura gasp softly at the number of people in the room. The entered quickly, seeking out an empty spot where they could observe the competition, as they were all sure the competition was observing them. They casually sat close, pitching their comments in whispers to keep as much as possible between them. After a quick survey, the blond leaned into Sasuke and said softly, "Bushy Brows and his team are over on the other side. I can see that Gaara kid here too…" She couldn't suppress the slight shudder that the creepy redhead invoked in her. There was something about that boy that just wasn't right…

Sakura leaned in and commented, "Most of them seem to be watching Sasuke, rather than you or me, Hotaru. Looks like he's the big thing this year…not that I'm surprised by that." She grinned. "It's not every day that the last Uchiha takes the Chuunin Exams."

Hotaru's blue eyes sparkled with mischief as she replied, "Now, Sakura, the bastard's head is big enough as it is without you saying something like that. We'll have to beat it out of him later at this rate…"

The older girl giggled at Sasuke's vaguely offended, "Hn." Just as she was about to reply, they both felt him tense, so little that it was imperceptible to the room at large, but the three of them hadn't spent so much time training as a team for nothing. They both turned to see what he was staring at.

The blond was surprised to see a rather unimpressive looking Leaf genin approaching them. He was neatly dressed in dark blue and grey ninja gear, with oddly grey hair bound back in a low ponytail and large round glasses…he looked more like some sort of clerk to Hotaru than a ninja, but there was something off about him that immediately put her on edge. She couldn't have even said what it was, he looked harmless enough, but given that he was here there was no way he could be entirely harmless.

He gave them a friendly smile, and when he got into a comfortable conversation range said in a warm tone, "You may want to be less conspicuous in your conversation. You were hard to hear, but I'm sure some people here lip read." The guy seemed to be watching Sasuke rather intently, though he also spared an appraising glance for the other two.

Sasuke nodded coolly. "Thank you for the advice, but I'm sure we'll get along just fine." To anyone else, the raven probably seemed quite relaxed, but Hotaru knew better. There was something about this guy that had set him on edge, just as it had her.

The other genin's smile never faltered. "I'm sure you will, Uchiha Sasuke. Someone as impressive as you couldn't fail to figure out something as obvious as that."

The blond leaned forward a little. "And why would you want to help us at all? We're all here to compete, aren't we?"

The older genin turned his attention back to her, his expression curious. "Well, this is not my first time taking this exam. I have compiled quite a bit of information about the participants, which I would be more than willing to share with fellow ninja of the Leaf. I have to admit, I don't seem to have any information on you though…was Sasuke-kun's third teammate not male?"

Sasuke snorted, Sakura giggled, and Hotaru just gave the guy a smirk. "Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. It's not really something a stranger needs to know though…"

The boy smacked his forehead in exaggerated sheepishness. "Now, where are my manners today? My name is Yakushi Kabuto." He bowed low to them, and then looked back up at Hotaru with a friendly smile. "And your name?"

She shrugged a little. "Uzumaki Hotaru, formerly Uzumaki Naruto…future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato."

Kabuto's eyes lit with understanding. "Ah! You were known as Naruto until recently…well, that certainly explains much." He bowed again. "Well, I will certainly keep an eye on a future Hokage…"

Before he could say more, the doors to the Examination room opened to admit a scar-faced jounin, followed closely by a number of chuunin who filed around to the chairs set against the walls of the room at regular intervals, while the jounin proceeded directly to the front of the room. The room quickly quieted as the intimidating man eyed the large group of genin, and then suddenly spoke. "My name is Morino Ibiki, and I will be the proctor of the first stage of the Chuunin Exams. The chuunin will get you seated, and then we will begin."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...just my own twisted fantasies.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not the type to flinch from a difficult task, and he expected that his ninja do the same, however in this particular instance he couldn't help but feel sorry for the man sitting on the other side of his desk. He was about to make the task of this ninja a great deal more complicated, and though he knew this man wouldn't complain about it he still didn't relish the task. The man was waiting patiently with an air of studied indifference, but the old man knew that he was anything but. He finally sighed softly, cleared his throat, and decided to begin with a bit of small talk, working his way into it. "Kakashi-san, do you think your students will make it to the final test of the exams?"

The jounin gave him that smiley look that was so unique to him. "Of course, Hokage-sama. I wouldn't have nominated them if I didn't think they were going to make it to the final test. The three of them have come a long way since graduating, and despite the recent friction they work well as a team."

The Hokage nodded solemnly. "Speaking of that…friction, you never did tell me what that was about." He settled back into his seat, genuinely curious about the cause of the fight that had driven Hotaru out to the Hokage monument that rainy night.

Kakashi shrugged slightly. "Neither of them has told me the whole thing, but I've been able to piece some things together. When I went to their apartment that night, I found him in his room. His mirror had been shattered. The word 'brother' had been written on the mirror in blood, though I'm not sure whose. I didn't see any evidence of self-mutilation, so it may not have been his."

Sarutobi could feel a stirring in the shadows behind him. He would have been alarmed at the fact that he hadn't sensed it if he hadn't immediately recognized the presence as it revealed itself. A soft cough came from behind the shadows as one of them separated itself from the others. He kept a neutral expression as a deep voice commented in a monotone, "That would have been from me, Kakashi-san. I apologize, but I was only doing what I thought was necessary at the time."

The scarecrow's single eye widened as the owner of the new voice came fully into the light, but to his credit he didn't immediately attempt to attack the newcomer. Instead, he looked at his perfectly calm Hokage and replied mildly, "There is more going on here than I was aware of…is this why I'm here?"

The elderly leader sighed softly, a slightly annoyed edge to his tone. "I thought that you were supposed to be far from Hi no Kuni by now, Itachi-san." It definitely wasn't a question, though the raven showed no sign of being anything but calm. Sarutobi continued, "Yes, Kakashi-san, this is why you're here. There are some things you need to know that may impact not one, but _two_ of your students in the near future. First though, please finish what you were saying."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow slightly, but settled comfortably in his chair and continued with no sign of impatience. "Well, if Uchiha-san has been interfering, that would certainly explain a lot. The fight was caused by resurgence in Sasuke's obsession with gaining strength to eliminate him." This time he addressed Itachi directly. "I take it you reminded him somehow?" At the Uchiha's nod he leaned forward, eye narrowing, but his tone continued to be mild. "It may be detrimental to more than just Sasuke's progress if you continue to interfere, so I advise you to stop."

The Sandaime just sat back and listened for the moment. It would be far better if these two worked things out on their own. He watched as Itachi nodded again and replied to Kakashi's thinly veiled threat, "I have no intention of attempting that again. Hokage-sama had convinced me after that incident that it would be in Sasuke's best interests to allow him to develop along this new path, as it is possible that I may return to Konoha permanently some day."

The old man decided at that point to interrupt them. "That is the subject of this meeting, Kakashi-san. What you are about to hear is an S-Class secret known only to a select few…"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The chuunin in the room were quick to arrange those attending the Exam into appropriate seating, each of which was numbered, while Ibiki looked on. His expression wasn't menacing, but Hotaru found herself a little creeped out by the absolute blankness all the same. This looked like the sort of man that wouldn't be fazed by much, and could probably control his expressions with a very high degree of precision. She quickly realized that she was no where near either of her teammates, but she figured that was probably on purpose. Inconvenient, but hardly a problem. She took a quick look to either side as she sat down in the seat she was given, and found that of all the people she was near the only one she knew was Hyuuga Hinata, who was seated to her right. The girl looked nervous enough to faint, so the blond shot her a quick, reassuring grin…at least, she thought it was reassuring anyways. Hinata blushed furiously and nearly swooned in her seat for no reason that Hotaru could see. Her blue eyes scanned the room around her again to see if she could find the source of Hinata's blushing, but before she could draw any conclusions the proctor cleared his throat and started.

"We have a large group today, I see. Listen up, because I'm only going to tell you this once, and I will not be taking questions about any of it. This portion of the exam is a written test to determine your general proficiency in knowledge essential to a ninja. There will be ten questions, nine of which will be given immediately, and a tenth that will be given in the last 15 minutes of the exam. You will have one hour in which to complete the exam. Each of you will start out with ten points. Every question you get wrong will remove one point from your total. Any person with zero points at the end of the exam will fail. Also, the chuunin that you see along the walls are there for more than just decoration." His expression grew stern, which was a little chilling on his tough, scar seamed visage. "There will be no cheating tolerated. Any person caught cheating by the chuunin will lose two points. Anyone that reaches zero points will immediately fail and expelled from the exam. Furthermore, should anyone reach zero points by any means, their teammates will also fail by default and be expelled." He paused a moment while a ripple of gasping and nervous whispers swept over the room. "The exam will begin now!"

Hotaru looked down at the paper in front of her and turned it over, filling in her name quickly. She read through the first question as carefully as Sasuke had taught her, and realized with a sinking feeling that there was no way she was going to be able to answer it. Rather than linger on something hopeless, she moved immediately on to the next question…and found it just as bad as the first. A quick scan of the remaining seven questions revealed that they were all that bad. She knew that she started out far behind on theory, but she thought that with Sasuke's tutoring she wasn't _that_ bad anymore. This was all incomprehensible gibberish to her though…every last bit of it. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she firmly suppressed the urge to panic. There had to be something she could do…she tuned out everything around her, examining each question carefully, but it was no use. She couldn't understand a bit of it. She looked up, looking around carefully through her lashes to see how everyone else was doing, and was shocked to pick out some blatantly obvious cheating going on. She frowned and looked down at her sheet, considering carefully. If she wanted to pass, she was going to have to cheat. All she needed was one question correct…just one. If she managed to get just one, she would pass. It was either that or gamble on the final question…but if the final question was anything like these then that would be a _huge_ gamble.

She sighed softly, torn over what to do…and then noticed Hinata was subtly sliding her own paper, which was full of answers, her way. The timid Hyuuga heiress murmured softly, careful to pitch her voice to carry no farther than her blond neighbor, "You can copy mine, Hotaru-chan. Hurry, so they don't see."

Hotaru started to lean ever-so-slightly to her right to get a good look, when one of the chuunin called, "Number 10 fails. Numbers 23 and 35 leave as well." There was a scrapping of chairs around her as the three announced genin left in shame. Hotaru glanced at Hinata and shook her head slightly, smiling a bit for the offer. She didn't want to risk blowing this for her team so soon, and there was always the chance that the tenth question would be something she would be able to answer.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke himself had no problems with the exam…not because he knew all of the answers, but because his Sharingan allowed him to copy from someone who did without being caught by the chuunin watchers. He had realized the purpose of the exam almost immediately upon looking at the paper…he was sure that only a handful of the genin in this room could answer the questions without outside assistance, so it was logical to assume that the examiners _wanted_ them to cheat, despite the scarred jounin's speech. A ninja's information gathering abilities were crucial to their career, so this portion of the exam was to weed out those who weren't skilled enough in this aspect of a ninja's duties. Many very disappointed genin had already been eliminated from the exam, having been caught.

He found himself worried over Hotaru though…just Hotaru. He was sure that Sakura could answer every one of these questions without a problem, but he was also equally sure that the blond could _not_, and the blond just wasn't skilled enough to get the answers from someone else without being caught. A quick glance up at her confirmed his fear...she wasn't writing anything, and there was no way she could have finished by now. There was no way that he could really help her with this either, much to his annoyance. She didn't seem to be panicking though…maybe he was wrong. Maybe she had a plan after all, and he just didn't see it. Then again, knowing her…probably not.

He grimaced and turned his head slightly to check on Sakura. The initial 45 minutes was almost up, but she seemed to be sitting there with a very satisfied look on her face as she double checked her answers. He looked down at his sheet then to check his own, but his eidetic memory had allowed him to copy the answers he'd seen being written with flawless precision. He glanced up at the proctor, who was now watching them all with a sadistic little smile on his face as the last minute slid by.

Finally, he straightened and called out, "All right, time for the final question. First though, there are some additional rules for this question." There was worried whispering from the remaining genin upon hearing that. "Quiet! First, you must decide whether or not you want to take the tenth question. If you decide that you want to take the question and then fail it…your points will automatically be reduced to zero, and you will fail the whole exam. Furthermore, I will _personally_ make sure that you will be barred from taking any Chuunin exam forever, though your teammates will be allowed to take it."

There were a number of gasps around the room at that, but it was Inuzuka Kiba that finally yelled, "You can't do that! That's never been done before, and the Hokage will never let you do that!"

Ibiki's answering grin was positively vicious. "Oh, I can do it all right. The Hokage, and all of the Kages for that matter, have agreed to allow the proctors to run the Exams their way. You were just unlucky enough to get me this time." The room got extremely quiet at that point. "Now, continuing on, if you decide that you don't want to take the final question you will be allowed to leave. You and your teammates will automatically fail the exam, but you will be allowed to take it again when it comes up in 6 months. So, who doesn't want to take the final question?"

Sasuke didn't budge an inch, but he wondered what Hotaru was going to do. He stared at the spikes of blond hair, rising like a fan over the clips she'd taken to pulling it back with, and almost wished that she would put her hand up. As genin he didn't really know were quitting all around them he could see her struggling with it. If the final question was as difficult as the other questions then she'd be risking never being able to advance from genin. On the other hand…he knew that the draw of advancement was as strong for her as it was for him, despite her brave words the night before about being able to wait to take the exam. He glanced over at Sakura, who gave him a worried look in return and then back to the blond. He could see her hand twitching, and wondered what exactly she was thinking. Was she struggling to raise it, or to keep it down?

After a few minutes, the jounin looked around the room with a raised eyebrow. "Anyone else want to bow out now?"

The raven almost held his breath as it seemed at though Hotaru's hand started to go up…and then she slammed both hands down on the desk and stood, leaning forward. "You can stop that now. I'm not scared of you! Bring on the tenth question! I'm a shinobi of the Leaf, and I won't be intimidated by you or anyone else!" She straightened, her voice dripping scorn. "I'm no coward…if I fail, then I fail, and we'll deal with it as a team, but I'm not going to give up before I've even tried!" She sat abruptly with the proctor watching her in amusement.

He cleared his throat and looked around the room at the new resolve in the faces staring back at him. "Well, it seems that no one else will be leaving. In that case…you all pass." He grinned at the stunned silence that pervaded the room. "Surprised? Let me explain. The life of a ninja is not an easy one. You will sometimes be asked to do things that will seem impossible, and forced to make a choice between your own personal gain or safety, and the good of the team." He reached up to pull off his hitai-ate, revealing his incredibly disfigured skull to the horror of the genin present. "Sometimes that choice will involve more than just your own team, and the pressure to give in to your own self interest will be more than just verbal, and the results will be terrible and painful. The life of a ninja is not without terrible things. This test was designed to weed out those who can't, or aren't ready, to take that kind of pressure." He slipped it back on. He was about to continue when there was a sudden crash, and the window exploded inward in shards of glass, bringing with it a lithe woman with wild, deep purple hair, wearing a beige trench coat and a great deal of mesh, along with a banner announcing her as the proctor of the second exam. Ibiki gave her a disgruntled look and snapped, "You're early."

The strange woman looked around the room. "I must be. There are still way too many here. Are you going soft on me, Ibiki?" She flashed the startled genin a feral grin and didn't bother waiting for Ibiki's reply as she announced, "I'm Mitarashi Anko, the proctor for the second Chuunin Exam. Don't worry, I'm not as soft as Ibiki here…before we're done, I'll reduce your numbers by at least half!" With that cheerfully made threat, which sounded strangely the way Hotaru did at times, she turned to Ibiki and demanded, "Are you done with them? Why on earth are there so many left?"

The other jounin sighed and nodded. "Yes, I'm done with them. And there are so many left because we have a remarkable group of genin this time." He gave Hotaru a little smile, bowing slightly in her direction. "I wish you all luck in the next exam." He then left then with the new proctor without a backward glance.

Anko grumbled slightly as she looked them all over, and then grinned. "Registration and instructions for the second exam will be one hour from now, at Gate One to Training Ground 44. Sign up as a team, or don't bother signing up at all. No late registrations will be accepted, so be there on time or you're out!" With that final admonishment the woman left the same way she'd come, leaving the somewhat confused genin to their own devices.

All of the remaining genin rose quickly, meeting up with their teammates and heading out of the room by more conventional means. Sasuke rose and met with the girls, joining the line of people streaming out. He glanced at them as Sakura spoke up. "Do we need an hour to prepare? I don't need anything else myself…I brought everything I thought I would need with me."

The other two shook their head, and Hotaru replied with obvious reluctance, "No, we packed well too. I do have…something that I need to talk with you two about it." There was an oddly blank look in her blue eyes that the raven decided immediately that he didn't like. "Somewhere private, this isn't something I want spread around."

Onyx eyes met jade ones behind the blond's head, and Sakura shrugged a little. Sasuke finally answered, "We can go back to our place and grab something to eat quickly while we talk then."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The entire walk to the apartment was silent. Hotaru could practically taste the worry radiating from her teammates, it was so strong. In fact, she could smell it…a new ability, and part of her decision to tell her team some rather unpleasant truths. She had been changing slowly since the incident in Wave, though it had taken her this long to notice it. It hadn't really hit her until the incident with the arrogant Hyuuga prick before the exam, but now that she was calm again she was able to notice that things seemed…different. Her sense of smell had always been pretty good, but she couldn't remember when it had ever been _this_ sharp. Her vision was slightly different than it was this morning too…everything was in a higher detail than it was before, and colors seemed more vivid. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was certainly not what she was used to.

As they entered the apartment she could feel the tension mounting. She settled into the armchair by herself as Sasuke headed to the kitchen to grab something for them to eat. Sakura sat down on the couch, curling up as she watched the blond with a certain amount of trepidation. Hotaru herself did her best to keep her face blank…she felt like she was about to have a litter of kittens from the nerves. This wasn't something she had ever intended to tell her teammates, but she had to trust them some time. And after this morning's incident she felt that she owed it to them to give them an out, especially since she wasn't sure if she could control the surge she had felt every time. She was sure what it was now…she was far from stupid, and given what she knew there just wasn't anything else it could be.

Sasuke came back in with sandwiches for the other two, settling on the couch beside Sakura as he pinned the blond with an intense look. "We're ready. Start talking."

Hotaru suppressed the urge to sigh, nodding instead. "Fine. You two have been wondering for a while what exactly the adults of Konoha have against me…you're also wondering what exactly happened this morning with the Hyuuga…and what happened in Wave." At their attentive nods, she plunged on. "Well, they're all related actually, but that's not where I want to start. What do you two know about how the rampage of the Kyuubi no Kitsune ended?"

The two exchanged baffled looks, but Sakura was the one to speak up. "After a long battle with terrible losses, the Kyuubi was finally killed by the Yondaime Hokage on October 10th, but at the cost of his own life."

Hotaru grimaced slightly at that version…the version that she too had believed for the vast majority of her life. She had finally gotten the truth of what her life long idol had done from the old man several months back, just after the incident with Mizuki. She knew that there was something that he was still holding back from her, but she was sure that he would tell her in due time. "I know that's what we were all told, and it's not actually _that_ far from the truth…"

Sasuke interrupted her impatiently. "What does this have to do with you, dead last?"

She snapped, "I was getting to that, Sasuke-bastard, so shut up and let me talk." She leaned back in her seat, exchanging glares with him, but was oddly comforted by such a _normal_ exchange. "Look, this isn't easy for me, so just let me do this my damned way. The truth is that while the Kyuubi _was_ defeated that day, and the Yondaime _did_ die, the Kyuubi didn't." She held up a hand as Sakura started to protest. "Shut up, I'm not done. Now, I have it on _very_ good authority from the old man that no human could ever hope to kill a demon, much less the lord of demons. They're…well, forces of nature, I guess. I know I have that part wrong, but if you're really curious you can ask the old man or Kakashi-sensei later. So, since the Yondaime couldn't kill the thing how did he stop it, right? He did the only thing he could…he used a powerful and suicidal sealing jutsu to seal the thing into a newborn baby." She could see that they still didn't get it, and sighed. For two such incredibly intelligent people, they could be awfully stupid sometimes. "Sasuke, when is my birthday?"

He frowned at her and replied, "It's October 10th…" He trailed off, his eyes widening in disbelief. Sakura's expression looked shocked for a moment before she managed to struggle a blank mask into place. The blond could see them both turning the idea over in their heads, and could only hope that their words earlier hadn't been for show.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Sasuke's mind reeled for a moment at the unexpected revelation. Of all the things that he had expected his blond friend to tell them, this definitely was no where even close to the list. The shocked silence stretched out for minutes as he and their kunoichi teammate struggled to come to terms with the truth, and all the while Hotaru sat there. With every moment that passed without an answer, every second of strained silence, he could see her start retreating into herself, but he found he couldn't get himself to do anything about it. His best friend, the holder of the Kyuubi…was that where her power came from? That certainly explained the red eyes, and the animosity that the majority of the adults of the village always directed towards her. He wasn't sure what to feel about it.

Finally Hotaru stood, a dead look in her eyes at the lack of response from the two people she trusted the most, and said in a monotone, "I'll be going then. I'm sure you two will need the time to find out if someone else can be found to take the exams with you…"

That was enough to snap the raven out of his indecision. As she turned to leave, he lunged up to grab her by the arm, replying in a harsh tone, "Where do you think you're going, dead last? We're a team. We do this exam together, or not at all." He felt her stiffen, and was ready to catch her fist as she attempted to force him to release her. He snorted. "You're so predictable sometimes, dead last. Now, stop being stupid. This doesn't change anything, and we're not doing the exam with anyone but you. Right, Sakura?" He glanced at the other girl, his expression challenging.

Sakura shook her head, snapping out of her daze. Her expression changed to one of determination. "Right, Sasuke. We're a team, and we know you. You're obviously _not_ the Kyuubi, even if you're carrying it. This doesn't change anything." She slipped off the couch and walked over to wrap her arms around the startled Hotaru, continuing softly, "You're our friend, and you've done so much for both of us. How could we ignore that, stupid?"

The blond squirmed awkwardly at the kunoichi's mushy display, looking back and forth between the two of them incredulously. "Are you two serious? You saw what I did in Wave…you saw what happened this morning! What if I can't control it? What if I _hurt_ you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and bashed the top of Hotaru's head with his fist. "You wouldn't do that, idiot. Don't tell me that after all we've been through you're _scared_." He sneered at her quite deliberately, and was satisfied when she stiffened again and growled at him.

"Of course I'm not scared, bastard! I'm Uzumaki Hotaru, the future Hokage! I can handle some stupid fox." She snorted, and he chuckled softly. Her expression softened, though she still seemed a little uncomfortable. "Guys…thanks."

Sakura finally let go of her and grinned, replying cheekily, "That's what friends are for, right? C'mon, let's go get this exam out of the way!"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

The area in front of Gate One at Training Area 44 was crowded with the genin that had passed the first exam. Hotaru looked around, and couldn't see that there were any fewer people there than there were in the exam room when they left. She was surprised to see both of the other two rookie teams there, as well as Yakushi Kabuto's team. There was a tent set up near the gate, but it seemed to be closed for the moment. That was probably where they would be registering and receiving their instructions. As she was observing the other remaining teams she noticed Yamanaka Ino and her team heading their way. The other blond seemed a little smug as she approached.

"Hey! I suppose I should have expected your team to pass…looks like all the rookie teams did. It seems Konoha is the only village that let any rookie teams enter!" Ino stopped with her hands on her hips, Shikamaru and Chouji flanking her. "If we can all make it to the third exam it'll be great for the village." She grinned at Sakura. "You better not hold Sasuke-kun back, Forehead."

Sakura snorted and shot back, "If anyone's going to be holding anyone back, it's you Ino-pig. Can't you be a serious kunoichi for five minutes?"

The two glared at each other until Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome," and dragged Ino off without another word.

The kunoichi shook her head and sighed sadly. "You know, I miss her. Sometimes she's the great friend she used to be, and others she's the jealous Sasuke fangirl." She giggled a little at Sasuke's grimace. "If only she would accept that Sasuke-kun has eyes for only one girl and it's sure as hell not either of us!" Sasuke's immediate glare and light blush sent her off into gales of laughter.

Hotaru blinked at that and replied with disbelief, "The Ice Prince has a crush on someone?" Of course, her innate curiosity immediately took over. She turned to the raven, stomping up to get right into his face, examining his blush carefully…which only deepened it, of course. Sapphire and onyx eyes met. "You do! Well, I'll be damned! Who is it, bastard?" Her head followed his as he turned away from her with an annoyed grunt. "Sasuke, who is it! C'mon, I'm supposed to be your best friend, tell me! Oh, is it Hinata? She's pretty cute, she was all blushing and stuff during the first exam. Hey! Maybe she likes you too!"

The raven abruptly shoved the blond away from him and snapped, "It's not Hyuuga Hinata. It's no one, so drop it."

She stumbled briefly, and was about to reply when a kunai suddenly flew past her, grazing her cheek before thudding into the turf beyond her. She turned to find herself looking right into the eyes of Mitarashi Anko, who purred at her, "While I appreciate your…energy, we're going to be starting now."

A long tongue, wrapped around the hilt of the kunai, suddenly extended over the blond's shoulder from behind. "I believe this is yours?" She was in a perfect position to catch the infinitesimal flash of surprise in the jounin's eyes as the older woman followed the tongue to its owner, reaching to take the kunai. Hotaru turned slightly and caught the sight of one of the female Grass nin in her peripheral vision. There was something about that tongue that just gave the blond the creeps. As the nin retracted her tongue she brushed the cut on Hotaru's cheek, seemingly by accident, then smirked a little and walked off back to her team.

Anko stared for a moment, composing herself, and then in a completely mercurial mood shift she suddenly grinned and announced, "Well, I see you all made it! Welcome to the second test of the Chuunin Exams, this time to be held here…in what we of Konoha so affectionately have named the 'Forest of Death'!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...just my own twisted fantasies.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

**Chapter Eighteen**

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Many of the genin participating in the Exam got wide eyed at the name of the training ground. It certainly was not a reassuring name. Sasuke, however, just gazed at the enormous, primal looking trees that loomed over the high fence of the ground. It was a huge place, fully large enough to get lost in if one was not well trained. As the crazy proctor continued he turned his attention to her.

"Okay, listen up maggots; I'm going to explain your objectives." She held up two scrolls, one black marked 'Earth', and one white marked 'Heaven'. "Each team will be given one of these scrolls before entering the Forest. Your main objective will be to collect one of each scroll by any means necessary and then proceed with them to the Tower in the center of the grounds. You may _not_ open the scrolls until you get to the Tower."

Sakura leaned in and muttered, "Well, that explains how she'll reduce us by half…"

The jounin flashed Sakura a feral grin at her deduction, and then continued on smoothly, "There are a few things that can disqualify you from this exam. Opening a scroll is one of them. The other is that you must make it to the Tower with your team intact. If anyone in your team is killed or injured beyond the point where they can move on their own, you'll be immediately disqualified. You have until sunset five days from now to complete the exam. If you wish to drop out early, or one of your teammates is incapacitated, send up a flare and one of the waiting teams will go retrieve you."

Chouji immediately protested, "Five days! What are we supposed to eat in there for five days?!"

Anko smirked at that, quite obviously amused. "Ninja are supposed to be resourceful. You'll eat whatever you find to eat, provided that it doesn't eat you first."

The blond kunoichi standing with Gaara called, "What are the rules for combat? And what happens to the people that open the scrolls early?"

Anko shrugged a little. "Those that open the scrolls will be dealt with immediately, and that's all you need to know. As for combat, there are no rules. Beyond what I've just told you, you're free to do whatever you want. Speaking of which…" She turned and took a piece of paper from one of her assistants. "You will all be required to sign one of these before you go in." She paused dramatically, still grinning.

A genin that Sasuke didn't recognize spoke up, taking the bait. "What is it?"

The strange proctor chuckled heartlessly. "It's a waiver, so that Konoha isn't held responsible if one of you little maggots gets killed." She handed the sheet back to her assistant, announcing over the sudden chatter, "You have a half hour to decide, get your forms done, get your scroll and get to your assigned starting gate. Get to it!" She turned and leapt to the top of the stand, keeping an eye on the crowd while she pulled a box of dango out of the voluminous pockets hidden in her coat.

He turned to his teammates, but he could see in their relaxed attitudes that, like him, this was nothing that they weren't already expecting. They'd come into this knowing that there was a number of fatalities every exam, and none of them were afraid. He was rather impressed that Sakura wasn't though. There was a time when she would have attempted to cling to him and declared that she wasn't scared with him there to protect her, but now…she seemed to be genuinely confident in her own abilities, and as alert as he and Hotaru were. He was rather proud to see her standing on her own like that. He smirked slightly as the vast majority of the other teams argued over whether or not to register, and simply said, "Well, shall we?"

He suppressed a grin as Hotaru pumped her fist and yelled, "Hell yeah!" He allowed her to take the lead to the stand with no little amusement, where the three of them quickly filled out their forms and entered the tented area to hand them in to receive their scroll, which was passed off to Sakura to hide in her backpack so that the other teams couldn't see which one they had been given when they left the tent. They were assigned a gate, and told that there would be a chuunin moderator waiting there to let them into the ground when the exam started.

They weren't the only teams to decide so quickly. Immediately behind them was the team from Suna, with Gaara staring at them as they passed with a strangely _hungry_ expression. The raven still didn't like the redhead's strange fascination with his blond teammate, so he rushed his team past them without even acknowledging that Gaara was watching them. Hyuuga Neji's team was also there, as well as Hyuuga Hinata's team, surprisingly. Hinata's teammates seemed to be doing their best to shield the timid kunoichi from her cousin's view, though she did peek out long enough to wave at Hotaru.

Once they were past the crowd of indecisive genin they sped up, heading quickly for their assigned gate. It didn't take them long to reach it, despite the fact that it was half way around the ground, so they still had plenty of time until the gate opened for them. As they settled down to wait, Hotaru regarded them with a serious expression for a change. "So, do we want to form any sort of strategy, or play this by ear?"

Sakura frowned, nibbling her bottom lip a little. "Well, we have no idea who is going to be at what gate, or who has which scroll. We have a Heaven scroll…we need an Earth scroll. It's likely that the teams that believe they are strong will go after the ones they think are the weakest first."

The raven nodded at that and smirked. "That means we're likely to have company pretty quickly. We won't even have to go looking for it, they'll come to us." He did a quick mental review of his trap supplies, and came up with a satisfying total.

The blond raised an eyebrow skeptically. "How do you figure that? We're not really weak..."

Sasuke snorted, but allowed Sakura to explain. "But they don't know that. From what the other teams could tell, we're all rookies, and we have two genin kunoichi. Many kunoichi are support types at this level of skill, and having two on the same thing will be a perceived weakness, on top of being rookies to begin with." She grinned at Hotaru's surprise. "There are some advantages to being a girl. Something that wouldn't really make a difference by the time we're all chuunin will be seen as a disadvantage right now. They don't know how well we're trained, or how much you can take, so we can take advantage of their stupid assumptions."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched the two of them with a satisfied smirk. "Correct. If we can enhance that image, we can lure them in a bit faster to a spot of our choosing. Think you girls are up to a little acting?"

**-~|(●****)|~-**

It had taken quite some time for Sarutobi and Itachi to explain to Kakashi the truth of what had happened the night of the Uchiha Massacre, as well as the events leading to it and what had occurred since. The scarecrow had listened calmly, though his furrowed brow at some points was a sign that this was a bit much to process all at once. When they finished he finally spoke. "So, Akatsuki is after Hotaru, but because they have assigned her to Itachi we have some time? And they are also expecting her to be a boy, as that is the last solid information they've gotten, so that will add to the confusion somewhat…"

The old man nodded. "That is correct. I must admit, I'm not sure what to do about that at this point, as we don't have enough information on all the players in this game. I'd like to keep Itachi out in the field, but I received a report from Jiraiya this morning that indicates I may need to pull him back in sooner than we'd hoped. It seems that Orochimaru may be closer to Konoha than we previously suspected, and we're still not sure of his current goals. Jiraiya is on his way back, but he may not make it in time to help us when things come to a head."

Kakashi grimaced. "What do I tell them for now then?" He shook his head. "There's no way that Sasuke is prepared yet for Itachi-san's return…" He sighed softly, slouching in his chair. "He's made a lot of progress, but I just don't think he's come _that_ far." He glared at the older Uchiha. "Maybe if you hadn't pulled that stupid stunt…his obsession with killing you isn't, and has never been, healthy."

The Hokage sighed. "Enough of that, what's done is done. For now I don't think we need to tell the children anything. I've increased the security for this exam to unprecedented levels. If we must bring Itachi back before Sasuke is ready, well…we'll deal with that when we get that far. I think that it's time you go check on your students. I'll send for you when we know more."

With that clear dismissal Kakashi stood, bowed low, and left. Sarutobi turned to Itachi with a frown. "Now, on to why you're here…"

The older Uchiha bowed slightly. "I apologize, Hokage-sama, but I had received information very similar to what Jiraiya-sama sent you, that Orochimaru may be closing on Konoha. I suspect he's going to try to take or influence Sasuke; he has coveted the Sharingan for a long time. I wanted to deliver the information to you personally."

The old man regarded the raven speculatively, and replied shrewdly, "You want me to recall you now to protect Sasuke."

Itachi frowned faintly. "I would not make such a suggestion, Hokage-sama. I realize that my current mission is of the utmost importance."

Sarutobi was sure that the boy wouldn't have suggested it, but that didn't stop him from suspecting that the Uchiha was trying to manipulate him into it. "Any idea how close my former student might be?"

The young man shook his head slightly. "No, I don't. He is quite adept at hiding his movements. I suspect even Kakashi-san or the Inuzuka clan would not be able to track him."

The elderly leader grimaced slightly. "I don't think that he would choose to strike now, with so many ninja from so many different lands so close." He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "After the second exam seems more likely, when all the foreign ninja have left to prepare those that make it to the third round. Traditionally we reduce the security on the village itself at that time to provide escorts to the foreign ninja to make sure that none remain within the borders of Hi no Kuni. I would like you to remain on alert, but outside the borders of Konoha for now. The second exam just started today. Please return in six days, and bring your partner with you. I will provide you with ANBU gear and masks so that you may join the guard on the village without notice."

Itachi shook his head a little. "The gear we have, though it is all custom gear. All we need are appropriate masks, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded and stood, his stride firm and business-like as he approached an apparently blank wall. His fingers probed for a moment before a door in the wall popped open, revealing a closet filled with row upon row of ANBU masks. After a moment of thought, he selected a weasel and a shark, handing them to Itachi with a smile. "These seem most appropriate. I'm going to assign these to the two of you permanently, since it seems likely you'll need them in the future. I'll add the appropriate notations to the sealed records."

Itachi accepted the masks, bowing low. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. With your leave, I need to go update my partner now."

The old man nodded, and as Itachi left he couldn't help feeling older than ever. The weight of his years was wearing on him, though he sincerely wished to have this business dealt with before he had to pass his office on to a successor…whoever that ended up being.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Hotaru shifted ever-so-slightly in her spot as she waited and watched, belly down in the dirt under the cover of some low, dense brush that, to the inexperienced eye, didn't look like it could possibly conceal someone of her size. She had to admit, Sasuke's plan had been good, and her little twist on it made it even better, though the idea had originally come from Iruka's little trick against Mizuki. It was only good for one encounter, but they had additional plans to fall back on later. As she watched her teammates in the clearing though, she had to try not to giggle at Sasuke's current guise. Their trap wasn't complicated, but it was certainly going to be something of a shock for the team that was currently following them, and she knew there was one…she could smell them. That made her shake her head slightly, because the opposing team smelled…unwashed.

Luckily, they hadn't picked up their tail until their preparations were already complete. The other team wouldn't have seen anything unexpected…a cool and collected looking 'Sasuke', with two very _obvious_ kunoichi fangirls practically hanging off of his every word as he 'explained' their 'plan' to them. When they had reached this clearing, 'Sasuke' had gone off into the bushes to 'relieve' himself, while the Sakura and 'Hotaru' had started setting up some traps…very obvious and badly done traps at that. The pair of them giggled and carried on like this was a picnic in the woods. Hotaru winced slightly as the 'Hotaru' in the clearing hit a girly pitch and made a mental note that he needed to work on his cross-gender acting at some point later. Of course, this was supposed to be somewhat overdone, but still…

While the pair in the clearing had played their part, she had quickly lost the genin trailing her just long enough to produce some kage bunshin, sending the unsuspecting foe off after one, while the others ran off to ring the perimeter with _real_ traps to prevent anyone from disturbing their little party. She had then shed her 'Sasuke' henge and stashed herself out of sight to watch the impending show. If everything went according to plan, the genin following them should be taking the bait any time now…especially since she could see Sakura standing in the middle of the clearing, taking out a very good approximation of their Heaven scroll to supposedly examine it.

It was then that the enemy took the bait. One of the genin had taken the opening they'd left, and henged into a fairly good 'Sasuke'. It wasn't the only possible way into the clearing with the 'girls', but it was the most obvious. She was mildly disappointed at their lack of creativity. She shifted her attention for the moment, scanning the tree line for the other two enemies. This, in part, was why it was her here and not the real Sasuke. Her abilities were just more suited to this situation than his were. After a moment, knowledge flooded into her mind as two of her bunshin dispelled themselves. She knew the precise location of the other two genin now…and what was more, some of her remaining bunshin were already in position to incapacitate them. She brought her attention back to the occupants of the clearing in time for a girly squeal, this time from Sakura, as both of the 'girls' attached themselves to the impostor and babbled about how scared they were out here. It was almost more than Hotaru could bear to see the normally aloof and reserved Uchiha acting that way.

Deciding to get the show on the road, before the enemy could figure out what was going on, she stuck two fingers between her lips and let out a piercing whistle. Several thuds later and the two that had been in the trees hit the ground, both unconscious. The one that was pretending to be Sasuke swore at that, trying to back off, but her two teammates were expecting that, and had him quite firmly. The real Sasuke's fist connected with his temple before he could recover enough to fight, and he went down immediately.

Hotaru stepped out from under cover, dispelling her bunshin to save the chakra. She sighed, extremely disappointed by the caliber of their opponents. "That was too easy…and for the record, I know you two were supposed to be obvious, but that was a bit much." She walked over to the two that had been in the trees and started rummaging through their packs for their scroll.

Sasuke snorted and dispelled his henge. "They fell for it, didn't they? But you're right, that was far too easy. I didn't expect them to fall for it like that." He poked the one he'd punched with his toe. "They obviously had a highly inflated option of their own abilities." He turned the boy over to take a look at his hitai-ate and grimaced. "Leaf genin…not even rookies. That's disappointing. You would think they would have known better."

Sakura giggled. "Better than what? Better than to expect any team that you're on to be this dumb? The world doesn't revolve around you, Sasuke…" She walked over to peek over Hotaru's shoulder as the blond suddenly swore. "What…? Oh, another Heaven scroll. Well, a spare isn't a bad thing, and if we have two then that's one less team that will pass."

Hotaru nodded and slipped the spare into her own pack. "Well, what are we going to do with these losers?" She stood, looking around at them.

Sasuke shrugged. "Well, we really have no reason to hurt them any further. Strip them of equipment and food, and leave them hanging in the trees? Leave their flare though. They can decide if they want to give up when they wake up." The other two nodded, and the three of them worked quickly, and then left the area.

They headed in the direction of the Tower without even needing to stop to discuss it. When they had left the scene well behind, they finally slowed, but didn't stop. Hotaru was the first to speak. "We may want to scout out what's in the area. All of the worst teams are sure to have been taken out by now." She glanced up through the roof of the trees, squinting a little. "We've probably got about another 4 or 5 hours before we need to find a defensible spot to rest for the night." She shrugged. "It's either that or we wait until tomorrow to find another team. We could make for the Tower at good speed, then get some extra rest…the majority of teams aren't likely to have a good night in here. Sakura?"

The kunoichi frowned slightly. "We'd have a distinct advantage if we're fresh and they're not. The proctor wasn't wrong when she called this place the 'Forest of Death'. This training ground has been used in some past Chuunin Exams. The predators in here are extremely dangerous, either enormously oversized, or highly poisonous. Taking the time to get ahead of the others would also let us set up some ambushes. I'm sure we're not the only ones that have thought of this though."

Hotaru shrugged a little. "But most of the teams won't think of it. And some of the teams that do won't find good enough cover…bastard, what do you think?"

He rolled his eyes at the nickname, but replied, "Let's get ahead of them. There will be enough teams that don't think of it to let us get the drop on a few, and one of them is bound to have an Earth scroll."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

A shadow flitted from tree to tree, downwind of Hotaru's enhanced senses, quite easily suppressing his chakra to the point where no one presently in the Forest would be able to detect him. Despite that, he still kept his current disguise up. It was a useful disguise, so he didn't want to discard it prematurely. He ran a path parallel to that of Team 7, watching. They certainly weren't what he had expected, or what he'd been told. The Uchiha's Sharingan was imperative to the success of his life long goals, but the boy wasn't reacting to anything the way he'd expected a revenge obsessed young man to. Sasuke's presence was an enormous temptation, but he wanted to see how the three interacted before he made any moves.

The blond had the unmistakable look of the Namikaze heir. He'd left the village shortly before she had been conceived, but had been well aware of the pregnancy of Namikaze Minato's fiancé, Uzumaki Kushina. He had been told many conflicting things about this girl over the years. Jinchuuriki were rare, but she seemed different than most. She didn't seem to be wallowing in her situation, or driven to insanity as so many were. She was bright and upbeat, but there was also cunning in her eyes that completely contradicted the reports of a lazy prankster that he'd received. For the longest time his agents had even kept insisting she was male and not a single one of them had been able to tell him her name. With the failures of his agents to give him any relevant information on either the Uchiha or the blond, it occurred to him that he was going to have to replace them all. This was his first time laying eyes on her though…and before he'd even watched them for an hour, he knew he was going to have to modify his original plan. With the way the pair was reacting, both as a team and to each other, it was obvious he had to have them both.

**-~|(●****)|~-**

Anko was bored. A few of the teams had already been taken out of the Exam, but there was nothing really for her to do…three deaths that she knew of, but that wasn't unusual. She had made it to the Tower in time to watch with the Hokage as the first team to pass the exam entered the Tower, the only team that had been sent by Suna. The redhead, who seemed to be the leader of the team, had been completely unharmed…despite the fact that the team had absolutely shattered the old record for fastest completion by several hours. The Hokage, however, had seemed unconcerned by this, so she had left the Tower again to make what she considered to be pointless rounds.

She had just about reached the edge of the Forest when one of the ANBU caught up with her. "Mitarashi-sama, we have a problem."

She felt a thrill along her nerves that things might not be going quite as planned, but nodded for the man to continue as she snapped impatiently, "Well, what is it?"

The ANBU bowed. "This is something that you must see. My team is not sure what to make of it, so we don't want to taint your reaction with our speculation."

The crazy jounin huffed a little, growling back, "Fine. Take me to it."

**-~|(●****)|~-**

They had taken a great care in choosing their place to rest for the night, but after a great deal of search they managed to find a well concealed hollow high up in one of the enormous trees formed by the intersection of several of the broad branches. It had been luck that they had found it at all…it was invisible from below, but Hotaru had been fortunate to _literally_ stumble into it when scaling the tree to see if she could detect any pursuit. A little creative work with some stray branches and cord had made the place invisible from above as well, not that they thought anyone else would be going that high in this particular tree. They quickly agreed that they would have to take watches in rotation so that everyone could get rest. The blond had insisted that she take both first and last watch, much to the protests of her teammates. With her so stamina much higher than theirs she just didn't need as much rest as they did, though she would probably pay for it after the exam, but it had taken forever to explain that to them.

Hotaru stared moodily out through the screen of branches as the two behind her rested. It was starting to rain…if they hadn't found this place it would have been a miserable night for them. She wondered how many of the remaining teams were still out in this. There weren't many that would be willing to tire themselves in the rain just to get an advantage, but there was bound to be at least a couple of them. They had decided that the only area they would trap would be their screen…putting traps out any further than that would just tell other teams that there was a team hiding around here somewhere, which would defeat the purpose of attempting to rest.

The breathing of the two behind her was soft and regular. It was still a wonder to her that the two of them trusted her enough in a potentially dangerous situation to be their sole guard, even after her earlier confession. She turned for a moment to look at them, smiling slightly. She had never felt this…warm before. They felt like family and it was a strange, but welcome, feeling.

Suddenly she felt the hair on the back of her neck rising. Something was wrong, very wrong. She hadn't heard anything, nor did she smell anything, but something was undeniably wrong. She slipped a kunai out of the holster as she turned back to the entrance, cursing herself for allowing her thoughts to drift. Her sapphire eyes widened as she found herself face to face with an enormous snake, separated by a mere screen of brush. Needless to say, she was far from comforted by its scant protection.


End file.
